Day 11 Tuesday, March 12th: Chicken pecking Lana's shoe laces

We woke up this morning to a blue sky sunny and warm day. Weather forecast is a high of 22 degrees and a low tonight of 6 degrees. Lana opened the window right beside our bed which is above the street below for some fresh and warm air.

Checking our wine skins, we only have six (6) left out of the original 26. We have four (4) saved for the Gewürztraminer our German friends purchased for us a few weeks ago. Being in Ronda, our goal is to get to some Bodegas (wineries) for wine touring/tasting and my idea is to visit three Bodegas. We have two Bodega appointments for this afternoon. The first appointment I made weeks ago and paid in advance and the second appointment I made yesterday.

In Spain, like France and Deutschland, you have to make an appointment in advance. Unlike the BC Okanagan and most other North American wineries, you just don't drop in. Also, they have scheduled hours and you need to ensure your wine tour/tasting will be in English. The biggest difference in the Andalucia wine region is you pay a hefty price for the tour/tasting. Most of the Bodegas charge around 25 Euro per person! This is close to $40CDN per person. In France and Deutschland it is very rare there is a charge and if there is and you purchase a bottle then they waive the fee. Plus, your sampling of wine is unlimited in France, Italy and Deutschland.

This morning I contacted Bodegas Descalzos Viejos as the reviews were 5 Star. When I asked about the price per person for the tour and tasting she said 150 Euros! Yikes and no thanks. I did contact Bodega Vetas and we have an appointment at 12:00 tomorrow and the visiting prices are right around the average for Ronda. Finding these Bodegas while driving might be a challenge?

We plan on visiting the famous Bullring of the Royal Cavalry of Ronda (oldest bullring in Spain) this morning after it opens for non-EU citizens at 10:00 am. We do head out a little after 10:00 and Lana first visits a church.

These are electronic candles she found in the church. In any church we have visited in Europe you make a donation and light a candle. Lana likes to do this even though we aren't Catholic. This was the first time she found an electronic version though--very high tech. You drop your coin in the box and the candles that are now yours flash and then light up. I guess this is a more eco-friendly version but it doesn't give the same effect as lighting real candles in a church. 

The Church along the main drag that Lana wandered into. She indicated there was a fellow begging just after she entered the main door. 

We reached the Plaza de Toros fairly quickly. We paid our entry fee and a little extra for one audio guide. Cost of entry about 17 Euros. No discount for us retired people! We are pretty sure anyone who visits Ronda will make it to this famous bullring. We visited for about 60 minutes and then had to go as we had our appointment for 12:00. Some facts we learned with the audio guide:

• paddock = picadero 
• opened in May 1785
• only one bullfighter has died in this bullring (Curro Guillén)
• first bullring to be built in stone
• use a local variety of sand that has good drainage
• holds up to 4500 spectators
• bull fights take place in September each year and there are three types: one with younger bulls, one with older bulls and one with the matadors fully dressed in costumes of Goya. 
• all the seats are in a Spanish wood (fir)
• you choose your seats based on their exposure to the sun; fully exposed, partially exposed and shade

Check out the fantastic colours of the sky and the sandy bullring.

This is a spot that offered protection for the bullfighter and others in the bullring from the bull. There is no way the bull can enter here but you have to be fairly slim to fit as well :)

Map of the Plaza de Toros which is different than the pamphlet I received at the entry. More confirmation of the strange customer service attitude in this part of Spain. There were two cashiers but one was for 'groups' so she did not take any other customers lined up behind us. 

This is really cool. They used pulleys to release the bulls from their paddocks and then into the bullring to face the bullfighters. There is no way you are on this floor to open their gate as the bull would gore you guaranteed. I must say that this is a one-sided sporting affair in the ring as the bull doesn't have much of a chance. Myself, I would never attend this slaughter of a noble animal. 

Part of the museum exhibit and a great collection of swords used to kill the bulls and clothes worn by the matadors. Plus, lances used by the guys on horses to help stun the bull before the matador gets his chance to finish the poor animal. 

Same window but another great view of the clothes of the matadors. Very colourful. The bulls rarely win BTW. 

Great example of a poster from early 2000s.

Stairs up to the second level with bull fighting themed ceramic tiles inset. There are only two levels to the arena. Typical of this part of southern Spain to use lots of ceramic tiles. 

View from the second tier of seating. 

Lana took this picture of the bull statue fleeing the ring! I don't blame him. 

View from the first level of seats. 

On the way back to our apartment we came across a 'cafeteria' that makes bocadillos (sandwiches). Small shop Pan & Coffee Panaderia and paid 4.30 Euro for two sandwiches; salami and some kind of ham. These we need to eat before we begin our wine tour at 12:00. Dangerous to wine tour, drink wine and not to have eaten. We arrive at Bodega F. Schatz about 11:45 so we have time to eat our bocadillos in the car before we begin the wine tour. We are welcomed by Gema Pérez who will be our wine tour guide. There are two other couples and both couples are from Great Britain and have the accents to prove it. 

While we were standing and listening to Gema one of the four chickens that are pecking their way around the property decided she liked Lana's shoelaces! Gema had to shoo her away saying the laces look like food to them. They have an older chocolate brown labrador dog named Lucas that had the most soulful eyes and super friendly. 

Information from Gema:

• Frederich Schatz was born in Stuttgart, Deutschland in a Weingut and decided at age 18 to leave his parents/friends and venture around Europe
• In 1982 he arrived at this spot and decided to begin a Bodega (winery)
• this area had wine since the date of the Romans but the phylloxera wine epidemic hit this area like all European wine areas around 1860 so this wiped out all the wine grapes
• this area decided that they would not re-grow wine even after the solution of using grafted American grape roots/clones proved to be a success
• Frederich visiting this area saw a sign at this farming house FS (his initials) and believed this was an omen so decided to use his father's money and purchase the farming property and turn it into the first winery in the area since 1860
• He decided his winery would be organic and biodynamic just like the family farm he grew up on. 
• This decision back in the early 1980s was revolutionary - way ahead of his time
• When he purchased the house it came with a pool and beautiful large garden and he kept both
• The garden around the pool invited birds who eat insects in the vineyard
• In addition, his garden had tree fruits and aromatic plants and a herb plant known as myrtle 
• The myrtle repels various dangerous insects
• 4 hectares of property and 3 hectares devoted to wine
• 9 different grape varietals with 15,000 plants
• elevation at 700 metres
• sheep will graze to eat the grass and poop as fertilizer
• Lavender, rosemary and other aromatic herbs repel insects
• There are only three full-time workers year round at the winery
• for each wine plant there are two arms
• in a good year they may produce up to 15,000 bottles of wine which is about one bottle per grape vine 
• the original wine varietal planted was Limberger (German grape)
• They focus on quality over quantity
• the wine guide kept on asking "do you understand?"
• when picking grapes they use a specific box that keeps up to 20 kg of grapes
• Fermentation at a maximum of 23 degrees Celsius
• Soft press the liquid
• Stainless steel containers range in sizes with the largest at 4,000 litres
• Second fermentation of malic acid to lactic acid and mix this constantly 
• Utilize French oak barrels mostly
• Red wine uses three different barrels; French, USA & Slovenian
• All wines are in barrels for at least one year
• They export their wines across the world

 One of their vineyards but this one looks out to Ronda in the distance. Given it is mid-March these days are spent pruning the vines. 

Our wine tasting consists of six wines with a variety of very tasty dishes to pair with the wines. Once we were finished tasting of each of the wines the wine guide continued pouring more wine from the ones we loved. Very generous! Each of the couples purchased wine. Their organic and biodynamic wine has a different nose but tastes are excellent. Unfiltered and no sulphites. 

This is their 'soft' wine press that very gradually presses the wine juices. 

Oak barrels showing the three different countries of origin. 

Bodega price list. The prices are more than the usual Spanish wine prices but many of their wines are aged in barrels and then the bottles for years before they decide to release to the public. Plus, biodynamic wine growing is much more labour intensive and fickle. 

We taste the six wines and each wine is very good. Great discussions with the other two English couples. They spend at least three months each year in Spain to avoid the English weather. They offer some suggestions on Cádiz. It is VERY cold in the wine tasting room and both of us get pretty chilly. We purchase a Petit Verdot (very unusual to have this wine varietal on its own) and a Acinipo (Limberger grape). Both wines are very unique and very tasty. Plus, good stories behind both wines. 

We decide to head to Acinipo (Roman ruins pronounced AH-thin-ee-po) but on arrival discover they closed about 20 minutes before our arrival. There is nobody around! We decide to park our car and have a siesta in the sun to warm up. Lana grabs a quick nap and I try myself. We are fairly close to our next Bodega visit. 

Does anyone think this looks like a cow (asks Lana)? She says the proportions aren't quite right: the head isn't the right shape and the legs are too short/stumpy so laughs every time we see one of these signs. Quite a common sign in Andalucia. The cattle/cows we have seen here DO have slightly longer legs ironically. 

Long distance shot of Acinipo. We hope to visit tomorrow when they are open. 

Our next Bodega is Bodega Joaquin Fernandez. We have a 16:00 appointment. We arrive about 10 minutes early. Large parking area and we find a spot under a large tree for lots of shade. Still a very hot day. Lana stays in the car, but I grab a bench seat enjoying the scenery and shade with a fairly brisk breeze keeping the temperature tolerable. We need to wait for another couple who eventually arrive late. Our host and guide is Moses (son of the owner/founder). He speaks decent English but it seems his delivery is memorized. The other couple lives in the Netherlands; he is Dutch military pilot and she is from Florida. They met while he was attending pilot school in Florida and have been living in the Netherlands for the past five years.

This is the long drive way up to the Bodega so a pretty cool arrival to the Bodega located at the top of the driveway. 

View from the Bodega across the valley and towards Ronda at the top of the hill in the distance. 

Information from Moises:

• 4.5 hectares of grapes 
• organic winery with 4 different red grapes
• given their elevation temperature cold at night and lots of rain in this area
• clay base which retains water
• use five to six different herbs around the Bodega vineyard to attract beneficial insects
• vines are 19 years old and about 20 people pick at harvest time
• use a de-stemmer machine that utilizes a centrifugal force to remove the stems from the grapes
• Stainless steel tanks for the skins and wine juice
• Move the juice around and then move the juice to the oak barrels
• the barrels transfer the malic acid to lactic acid which makes for a smoother wine
• they use French and American oak barrels
• French barrels give more of a coffee, chocolate or toffee flavour
• American barrels give a more nutty and vanilla flavour
• use French bâttonage technique to stir the wine in the barrels (sediments)
• they use their oak barrels for 6 - 8 years
• most wines they age the wine for 4 - 6 months
• young wines for them can age another 2 - 5 years after purchase
• for the older wines they sell up to 8 years
• use bees wax to seal their bottle tops in addition to the cork of course

Bottled wine storage room

Bottled wines in storage up close

Our guided wine tasting is four glasses of red wine. The wines listed on the placemat are not what we had this afternoon. Wine #1 on the left was a young red wine (Grenache) being a light red wine with four months in oak. 12% alcohol volume. Wine #2 second from the left being another young red but a blend of Merlot (50%), Grenache (40%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (10%). Wine #3 being an old red of 100% Cabernet Sauvignon with two years in French oak barrel and then one year in the bottle. 2013/2014 vintage combination. We really liked this bottle and purchased one bottle for 19.50 Euro. Wine #4 another old red blend of 60% Merlot an 40% Grenache. We liked it as well but did not buy a bottle. Elegant in the palate.

Randy waiting for the most important part of any wine tour/tasting and that is the TASTING! Yup, I got a red face from that hike in Málaga along the beach area. 

The wine tour and tasting with hor d'oeuvres came to 15 Euro per person. The tour/tasting was about one hour. We chatted for about another hour with the other couple. They are much younger, but we had a great conversation about all sorts of topics. Enjoyable view and kept drinking the generous pours. It was a good ending to our day of wine tours/tastings. We met some great people at both Bodegas. 

Garmin GPS picture - as you can see our car is nowhere on the actual road or even heading in the proper direction! Lana is pretty calm and says "just give it a minute to get back on track". We returned to our parking lot and are back in the apartment around 18:30. 

We were not too motivated to venture out after all that drinking and eating this afternoon. We load the pictures and start drinking the bottle of Brut Rosé Cava our Málaga host Antonio provided as a gift. There is a highly rated local restaurant right around the corner from our apartment. Bar Antonio is the place and Trip Advisor ratings are excellent. Yup, we will head there and if Lana likes the menu then we'll eat there. She is wanting something more substantial than tapas and is threatening to go for Chinese food. She liked the menu and there were some choices we had not seen before. Lively group of local families in the space below us. We did order a number of 'tapa' dishes and Lana found some interesting choices. Our total bill for dinner tonight = 11.70 Euro inclusive of "uno copa vino blanco" for me. Food was pretty good and arrived fairly quickly.

Bar Antonio counter. We sat at the opposite end facing the outside. On the computer screen was a guy who looked exactly like the bartender/server, but he said it wasn't him and then laughed. 

Tinto de Verano in the bottle in the fridge! Lana didn't order one, but now we know. 

Garlic Prawn Croquettes--with some salad (surprise!) Lana ate the salad part first. Very tasty with a soft prawn and potato puree filing. 

Aioli Chips: crispy french fries covered in a garlic sauce for dipping. These were actually hot and crispy which was a change. The majority of fries that have come with our dishes have been warm and soft. 

On the left Piolín (chicken with blackberry jam) and on the right Nazareno (calamari, grilled pepper and aioli)

On the left Catetito (egg & chorizo)

Lana's Hamburguesita (pork mini-burger)

Archivo flores Fritas (Lana looked it up on Google and our bartender confirmed the name) which we learned is a Holy Week dessert treat. We received this sugar/cinnamon covered treat from the families celebrating in the lower level after they cleaned up. In addition, two home-made 'cupcakes' that we loved as well. Very generous of these people who don't know us nor had they spoken with us. Maybe it was my soulful eyes like the brown lab dog at the Schatz winery checking out the dessert platter as they were carrying it out!

About a one minute walk back to our apartment kitty corner to the restaurant. Super cold in the hallway and stairwell as we navigate to our door. Given we have had the heaters running our apartment is nice and warm on arrival. Another excellent day in Andalucia with a visit to a bullring, two Bodega visits, three bottles of wine purchased and a pretty good dinner to end our day. 

STATS for Today:  6,000+ steps, 4.50 kms and 15 floors