Wine Tastings, Winery Visits and Wine Tours in Catalonia

Wine tasting in Catalonia: which wineries and wine regions to visit

There are more than 100 wine tastings and winery visits at more than 50 producers, and most of them are in three areas of Catalonia: Priorat, the Penedès and the Empordà. Two in three tastings last between an hour and a half and two and a half hours, usually with 3 to 5 wines. The Penedès is under an hour's drive from Barcelona; the other two areas are 90 minutes to two hours away. Guests have left more than 100 reviews on Winedering.

Which wineries in Catalonia are worth visiting?

Those in these three areas, which take more than nine in ten bookings. Priorat alone has almost half, and its wineries have a page of their own: Priorat wine tastings. Six wineries from four other areas:

• Perelada, in Peralada: its tour is the most booked experience outside Priorat. You see its new winery, designed by RCR Arquitectes, winners of the 2017 Pritzker Prize, and taste one white and two reds.
• El Jardí dels Sentits, in Avinyonet del Penedès: 5 natural wines and light snacks next to a Romanesque monastery about a thousand years old.
• Bodega Miquel Jané, in La Guardiola de Font-rubí, in the Penedès: a viticulture lesson in the vineyard, then 4 wines with local food.
• Clos de Basella, in Siurana d'Empordà: a walk through its biodynamic vineyards and 5 wines; other visits add horse riding, a picnic or lunch.
• Mas Blanch i Jové, in La Pobla de Cérvoles, in Costers del Segre: sculptures among the vines, then wine tasted from the tank, the barrel and the bottle.
• Edetària, in Gandesa, in Terra Alta: 4 organic wines, including a Garnacha Blanca, and a picnic among the vines.

Nearly 20 tastings include breakfast, brunch, a picnic or lunch, and more than one in four comes with cheese. At Celler Pedrola, in the Ribera d'Ebre, you walk through the family vineyards and taste 3 wines with a brunch of cheeses, cold cuts and a local dessert. At Rovellats, in Sant Martí Sarroca, you go down into an underground cellar built in a radial plan, taste 3 cavas and have breakfast in the Modernista garden.

What wine comes from Catalonia, and where can you taste it?

Garnacha and Cariñena (Grenache and Carignan) reds, above all in Priorat and Montsant; Xarel·lo and Garnacha Blanca whites, in the Penedès and Terra Alta; and nearly all of Spain's cava, mostly from the Penedès. Besides Cava, Catalonia has 11 wine appellations, including DO Catalunya, which takes in vineyards from the Terres de l'Ebre to the Pyrenees. Beyond those three areas, there are tastings in:

• Montsant: mountain vineyards around Priorat.
• Terra Alta: known for its Garnacha Blanca.
• Costers del Segre: inland vineyards in Lleida province.
• The rest of the province of Tarragona, mostly in the Alt Camp, including a vermouth tasting in Bràfim.

What is cava, and where can you taste it?

Cava is Spain's best-known traditional method sparkling wine, fermented a second time in the bottle, mainly from Macabeo, Xarel·lo and Parellada. Most of it comes from the Penedès, around Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, where almost all of the 20 or so cava tastings on this page take place. There is also a separate page for the Cava appellation: cava tastings. Some Penedès wineries have left the Cava appellation to make Corpinnat or Clàssic Penedès, from organic grapes and with longer ageing.

At Freixenet, in Sant Sadurní, you pair 4 cavas with cheeses from different regions. At Suriol, in Font-rubí, you disgorge, top up and seal your own bottle, then take it home. At Cavas Ferret, in La Guardiola de Font-rubí, you taste a cava aged 25 years in the bottle. In early October, Sant Sadurní holds its sparkling wine fair, Escumostra, called Cavatast until 2025.

Which wineries near Barcelona can you visit on a day trip?

The Penedès wineries, 40 minutes to an hour away by car, and one closer still, Montau de Sadurní, in Begues, half an hour away: a vineyard walk, then 2 wines with local products such as cheese, olive oil and cured meats. Without a car, the R4 Rodalies train reaches Sant Sadurní in about an hour, and Freixenet is next to the station.

This page also lists day tours from Barcelona. Fewer than half visit two or three wineries in the Penedès or Priorat; the others pair a single tasting with something else, such as Montserrat, a meal, or a sidecar or e-bike ride to Alella. In Barcelona itself, you can taste in wine bars or on tapas walks.

Tastings are booked all year round, with spring and autumn making up more than half. Many of these tastings can also be given as a gift.