We at Adler & Marlow are taking our love for biodynamic and natural wines to the next level! We have partnered with VINIESTA, an annual natural wine festival, to launch VINIESTA TRIPS! We will offer specialized food and wine trips to 4 natural wine regions in Spain in 2023 - Catalunya, Andalucia, Galicia and Castilla y León.
If you crave sustainability, low-intervention natural wines, beautiful natural environments, delicious farm-to-table meals, and rich cultural context, these trips are for YOU!
VINIESTA is a natural wine festival that is all about getting closer to the fantastic producers and winemakers behind the wines, food, music. . . and now travel that features small vineyards that value quality over quantity in producing wine. These winemakers use natural and sustainable growing and winemaking techniques that bring out the essence of the grapes grown without chemicals and pesticides in their unique terroir.
So what exactly is natural wine and why is Spain becoming an important natural wine destination?
While the modern natural wine movement started in the 1970's in France, strictly speaking, natural wine-making has been around for centuries. Natural wines are either organic (using organic farming methods without the use of chemicals, pesticides or herbicides and without intervention in the natural fermentation process) or biodynamic (using organic farming methods in addition to planting, pruning and harvesting by the lunar cycle.) Over the past twenty years the Spanish natural wine movement has taken hold and gained traction in the international wine trade.
Adler & Marlow/Viniesta Natural Wine Trips in Spain will provide access to the pioneers and innovators of the Spanish natural wine industry to a small group of discerning travelers.
You will meet the winemakers who will take you on rambles through their vineyards, explain their ground-breaking, wine-making process, and share copas of their dazzling wines. Many of these remarkable vineyards are small volume/high quality producers not well known outside of Spain.
You will enjoy farm-to-table cuisine where you will eat like a local and see some of the most dramatic scenery of the Spanish countryside. Not only will you walk the unique terroir, see the vines, and learn how the grapes are transformed into natural wines, but you will also absorb the history and local culture that have been essential to the flowering of these dynamic vintages in uniquely different parts of Spain.
Each of the Viniesta trips will offer small group foodie and wine aficionado itineraries through one of the four blossoming natural wine regions located in 1) Catalunya (a natural wine mecca with Mediterranean charm), 2) Andalucía (famous for flamenco, bull fighting, tapas and Moorish charm), 3) Galicia (the wild and beautiful northwest coast and the end of the famed El Camino) and 4) Castilia y León (the cultural heart of Spain with its castles and famous roast suckling pig). Don’t miss the chance to get in on the secrets behind the Spanish natural wine movement!
4 New Trips Featuring Natural Wines and Regional Gastronomy
Castilla & León Natural Wine Experience
March 26th - Apr 1st, 2023
The Castilla & León region has a rich historical and culinary history and is often overlooked by casual travelers. The land of Roman ruins, knightly castles, one of the world's oldest continuous universities, and home of roast suckling pig and Spain's best sausages (embutidos). On this 7-day food and wine adventure, we'll experience the best of Castilla y León. We will meet the local heroes of the region's natural wine movement, eat some of the best traditional dishes in unforgettable settings, and gain a cultural insight that only comes from eating, drinking and rubbing shoulders with the locals! Are you ready?!
Catalunya Natural Wine Experience
June 17th - 24th, 2023
This edition of Viniesta trips takes us to Spain's natural wine mecca, Catalunya. This fascinating northeastern region of Spain is famous for its gastronomy, and historic wine-making traditions. From the avant-garde to the purists, to the rebels; the local stars of the Catalan wine scene are up to some tasty things! We will get up close and personal with the heroes of the natural wine world, experience some of the best of Catalan culture and eat extremely well in the process! Human towers, amphoras, bonfire parties, biodynamics and drinking from a balloon in the sky. Oh yeah!...we’ll see you there!!
Galicia Natural Wine Experience
July 30th - Aug 6th, 2023
One cannot truly know Spain without exploring the mystical and breathtakingly beautiful Galicia region. This trip will take us to some of the most enchanting corners of green Spain that include dramatic Atlantic coastal villages and interior mountains rising above river valleys, and known for remarkable camellia and tea plantations. We'll meet some of the bravest biodynamic wine producers around, eat the best shellfish of your life, get spiritual on the Camino de Santiago and be blown away by the charm and character of this incredible region!
Andalucia Natural Wine Experience
October 7th - 14th, 2023
This food and wine adventure will take us from Seville to Granada, across the Pueblos Blancos of the de la Sierra de Cádiz, ending up in the Sherry Triangle. We will see the very best of the magical Andalucían region, the birthplace of many of the iconic cultural elements that make Spain so great! We’ll get to meet a wide spectrum of local winemakers, all trailblazers in the local natural wine world. We’ll eat tapas at locals-only haunts in the back streets of Seville and Granada, experience flamenco in the caves of the Albaicín, discover amazing new wines, hang out with bullfighters and become fully immersed in the Spanish way of life. You’re not going to want to go home after this one!