Wine under the castle

Photo by Patrick Jones. Peñafiel Castle. 16 May 2017.

Last month while in Spain we had the opportunity to drive north of Madrid to the Ribera del Duero region. On our second day in the area we visited the town of Peñafiel, its impressive 10th century castle and the regional wine museum inside.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Inside Peñafiel Castle.

Photo by Patrick Jones. White grape varieties in Spain.

You can see for miles from the top of the castle. One can see why this spot was chosen to defend the surrounding village.

Photo by Patrick Jones. View from the top of the castle. 16 May 2017.

Photo by Patrick Jones. View from Peñafiel Castle.

Built underneath the castle more recently are a series of caves storing the barrels of Bodegas Protos. We took a tour and tasting of the winery. You start in the caves and end up in the new bottling facility across the street designed by architect Richard Rogers. He also designed Terminal 4 at Madrid's Barajas international airport. There is a similar feel to the terminal in the swooping lines of the ceiling at Protos, but is designed to resemble the inside of a wine barrel.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Wine cave at Bodegas Protos.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Historic wines in the cave at Protos.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Wine cave underneath Peñafiel Castle.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Wine barrels at Protos. 16 May 2017.

Photo by Patrick Jones. So many wine barrels!

Photo by Patrick Jones. Cases packed for shipping. Bodegas Protos.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Bodegas Protos tasting area.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Bodegas Protos. 16 May 2017.

We brought back three wines from Protos, a reserve crianza, a rosé and verdejo. Overall this was a really enjoyable visit to Peñafiel, the castle and winery. We spent a good 3 hours or more between the castle tour and museum and the winery tour and tasting. If you are in the region, definitely visit the castle and check out the winding roads of Peñafiel.