November 12 is an important date for wine, World Wine Tourism Day is celebrated. There are many events that will be held to celebrate it, it is impossible to name them all, especially in a country like Spain with a great winemaking tradition. But tomorrow, Sunday, is the perfect opportunity to discover the great wealth of underground heritage that the Rueda Wine Route has. A route that includes 23 municipalities between the provinces of Valladolid, Ávila and Segovia, in an area specialized in the production of white wine thanks to the preponderance of its native grape, Verdejo.
There are hundreds of underground wineries, true underground ethnographic and oenological museums, which, unlike other Spanish areas, are mostly built under houses. Although there are only thirty that can be visited, you can taste excellent wines in addition to discovering the history of the DO.
Campo Elíseo, located in La Seca, is the winery of a 17th century manor house on galleries excavated ten meters deep, led by François Lurton. The house remains almost intact, and in its caves you can see the curious way they age their wines in concrete or ceramic eggs, French oak or foudré barrels.
Garciarévalo was founded in 1991 by the union of two families, that of José Antonio Arévalo and that of Benicio García. Under the modern store in Matapozuelos hides the underground winery with dark corridors made of natural brick where one of its star wines rests, Harenna.
De Alberto is a winery founded by the Dominican order and is more than 350 years old in which five generations of the same family, the Gutiérrez, have preserved the tradition and art of making wine in an artisanal way. The underground galleries have large barrel vaults made of brick, which run more than a kilometer in length through the subsoil of Serrada.
The underground cellars of Félix Sanz from the 16th century. XV are located in the heart of the municipality of Rueda. They have more than 300 barrels for more than 500,000 liters. Walking through its galleries of arches made of mud brick, more than 15 meters deep, will take us through history where the vats and barrels built in other times are still preserved.
In Rueda, several kilometers of underground winery combine wine and mythology to explain the history of the winery, in a tour awarded as the Best Wine Tourism Experience in Spain in 2022. Through the myth of the Minotaur we will learn first-hand about the characteristics and excellence of the wines from Bodegas Yllera. Additionally, on the way out, it is possible to eat at the restaurant El Hilo de Ariadna by Martín Berasategui.
The exterior is just another store in Tordesillas, Muelas is located at number 3 Santa María Street. Inside, there is a surprising traditional three-level winery that reaches up to 13 meters deep, and where the wines sleep and age in barrels. There are not many because it is a small winery, but the production is very varied.
In the town of Rueda there are ancient underground galleries at a depth of 25 meters that date from the 15th and 16th centuries, and have a total length of four kilometers. Acquired in 1988 by Bodegas Mocén, a visit inside is like a walk to a small town where some vestiges of its past are preserved, such as some old chestnut warehouses that were used as large conservation containers.
Bodegas Menade was founded in 2005 by the children of one of the precursors of the DO Rueda, Antonio Sanz, the brothers are the sixth generation of a family dedicated to wine, among the members of the clan there were also boatmen and merchants, among others. The cellar is in the town of La Seca and preserves the underground cellar from the early 19th century called Secala-Menade 1820.
