Tag Archives: sanlucar getaway

bodegas la gitana & argüeso

27 Wednesday Jun 2018

Posted by in andalucia, azahartravels, getaways, sherry, travel, trips

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The main reason for the latest Sanlúcar Getaway was to partake of a couple of the free bodega visits being offered during the Día de la Manzanilla celebrations. The first was the Visita Nocturna on Monday evening at Bodegas La Gitana, which turned out to be a bit of a disappointment as it wasn’t the actual Visita Nocturna (which includes tasting VOR and VORS wines). Instead it was just the regular morning tour but held in the evening. Oh well.

The second was a visit to Bodega Argüeso, which I had never been to before. Peter joined me in Sanlúcar the next morning and when we arrived at the bodega I was very pleasantly surprised to see Nuria (whom I’d first met at Delgado Zuleta a few years ago) was now working at Argüeso. The tour was fun and interesting and included stopping by the tonelería (cooperage) to see the skilled artisans constructing and repairing the sherry barrels.

You can see a complete list of all the sherry bodegas I have visited (20 so far) here…

hotel barrameda

26 Tuesday Jun 2018

Posted by in andalucia, hotels, travel, trips

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I had sort of half-planned to go to Sanlúcar de Barrameda for Día de la Manzanilla (which was actually four days, Saturday to Tuesday) but didn’t actually decide until about 10.30 Monday morning. Then it all came together, booking sherry tastings, a hotel and train tickets, and by 12.00 I was packed and on my way.

I pretty much got the last room available at Hotel Barrameda (other than a rather expensive one with its own jacuzzi) and with the price they quoted I wasn’t expecting much, especially when they said it was an interior room. So I was very pleasantly surprised when I opened the door to this loveliness. It was perfect. I’ve stayed here before and, really, don’t think I’d want to stay anywhere else in Sanlúcar. The location is perfect, right on beautiful Plaza del Cabildo and easy walking distance to pretty much everywhere you’d want to go. I already want to go back. 🙂

las bodegas de sanlúcar

16 Thursday Mar 2017

Posted by in andalucia, azahartravels, cadiz, getaways, sherry, spain, wine

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So there I was – as usual – making last minute bodega visit plans via Twitter and WhatsApp the day before my trip… and mostly that worked out, except that two of the bodegas I wanted to visit weren’t available at such short notice. Really, it was probably enough seeing five bodegas in two and a half days, but I am always left wanting more. I think I might plan a longer stay in Jerez soon and make day trips to Sanlúcar and El Puerto while there, and keep it down to one bodega a day. Well, maybe two now and then…  😉

This time the bodegas were all very special in their own way, as bodegas tend to be, but there were also a couple of totally blow-me-away moments. I’ll write about this more over on my BRAND NEW Sherry Educator pages on Sevilla Tapas. But please be patient, because it may take awhile to get them set up properly. You can have a look now, but things are very much still “under construction”.

Meanwhile, a sneak peak of where I visited this time…

Bodegas José Piñedo

Bodegas Cota 45

Bodegas Alonso

Bodegas Yuste

Bodegas Las Cigarreras

eating out in sanlúcar…

15 Wednesday Mar 2017

Posted by in andalucia, food & drink, gastronomy, getaways, tapas, tapas bars

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… was mostly disappointing this time round. The first day we just had a few very mediocre tapas here and there (the tortillitas de camarones at Casa Balbino – pictured above – being the exception). The second day we went to a new “gastrobar” that was quite nice, but you know… gastrobar. But third day lucky! Following a tip by José Caireles (whose bodega of the same name we weren’t able to visit this time) we ended up at the best hole-in-the-wall spot ever. The Peña Bética de Carlos serves up super fresh fried fish in a no-nonsense tiny space that also houses a local fan branch of the Sevilla’s Bétis football team.

Carlos cooks up perfectly fried fish and seafood in the small kitchen behind the bar, while brothers Manuel and Carmelo take care of the customers. There are about eight tables, all of which had reserved signs on them when we walked in around 1.30 pm on a Thursday. We managed to squeeze into a small spot at the bar and within minutes all tables and any standing space between them and the bar were full. It was organized chaos. I couldn’t believe this all ran so smoothly with just 3 people, but later Manuel told me it used to be just him and Carlos. Then when things started getting busy his brother Carmelo joined the team.

Not all of these dishes were ours. The couple standing next to us at the bar let me take photos of their prawns and salmoretes, even offering to share their dishes with us. All of it was delicious, but that big fat cuttlefish in the middle of the collage was definitely the star of the show. What a great experience, so much more fun than one of the expensive touristy beach restaurants in Bajo de Guía. Thanks again José!