Wine, Cava, and the Black Virgin; not in that order!

Today we are on a tour to Montserrat with a stop for Cava tasting on the way back to Barcelona.   I picked a tour so we could experience some of Spain champagne or Cava. We are bussed to Montserrat so it was a chance to see some of the countryside and I was able to blog.  Lots of legends surrounding the Monestary as well as some special draws ( both of which we missed!!!)

Montserrat is still home to Benedictine monks as well as the special boys choir and the black madonna.   We walked around the complex and into the Baptismal. We opted to take the funicular up to the top of one of the hills and then the hike down. Due to my athleticism, and how long it took us to get down, the line to view the Madonna was over 2 hours...I guess this means a return trip, also since it was the Easter the boys choir was not practicing so no singing heard.   Views from the complex were amazing and you could see snow on the Pyrenees and almost to the coast of the Mediterranean.

Now down the mountain and to the other side and into one of the wine growing areas in Spain. This area was perendes compared with the Rioja or Ribera areas that also produce wine. The tour was of a biological organic winery. They make cava in addition to wine. The winemakers are all female in Spain because the thought is they have better pallets then men for determining flavors and combinations.

So cava tasting consisted of 1 cava, 2 whites and 2 reds. The wines were more aeromatic than most we have tasted in the US.  This winery was able to blend grapes from different areas since it had vines in various areas in the valley so the grape would have different flavors while being the same grape. Over all the price of wine at the winery was the same as the grocery store and cheaper than the restaurants. This is way different than home where wineries are generally more. Plus at this tasting we were given bread and olive oil, cheese and salami. This was not your typical tasting since we were a group of 15 in a private tasting room.   All in all a really fun day inspite of missing the Madonna and boys choir. Yes we bought wine, cheese at Montserrat from the vendors all to bring to Madrid when we travel home.  The red we purchased was a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Cabernet Franc. With the name “Mas Elena “. How can we go wrong. Tomorrow we travel by train to Madrid.