Sant Sadurní d’Anoia
There are some photos down below of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia. That is where they make most of the Cava (sparkling wine) in Spain. We had visited the Catalonian Tourist Bureau earlier in the week, and learned about what train to take to get to the town. It seemed easy…
But then we got to the Plaza Catalunya Metro station, and it was all a little less clear. It seems as though there are TWO train companies that leave from this station and take you to Sant Sadurni ‘ Anoia. Who knew? We, of course, bought tickets for the wrong one. Not that big a deal, but it did mean that we missed the train we had hoped to catch. Another one left about ½ hour later, and thought it seemed a close run thing, we caught that one.
The landscape around Barcelona is not particularly attractive. So we sat an chatted as the train made its slow and laborious way through the industrial suburbs of the city and the dry landscape just outside of town. Steel mills? In Spain? Who knew? My guess is that they are being subsidized by the EU. Good for Spain, bad for the EU.
We finally made it to town, and got out in the rather desolate train station. Freixenet is just across the street from the station, but we opted to walk into town first to find out what the local tourist folks would recommend. But as we were walking over the bridge, we spotted a small Cava producer along the river. We walked over, walked in and there were son folks packaging up some palates of Cava. We asked if we could have a tour, and they told us no.
Undeterred, we walked out and ambled up to the town center. We found the Tourist office, and they were very nice. There was an English language tour starting at Codorniu in about 20 minutes. We called for a taxi and walked outside. Moments later a late model Mercedes Benz shows up and whisks us away to the Bodega abut two miles outside of town.
It was €2 a piece to take the tour. That did include a movie and a tram ride around the cellars, so it didn’t seem too outrageous. There were about ten other folks by he time the tour stared, and we were put in a darkened theater to watch a movie about the history of Codorniu. All this seemed eerily familiar. But we enjoyed the tour none the less. Doreen had her tram ride (She loves carts) and we had several glasses of Codorniu’s finest. They have 15 miles of caves here, which houses 100 million bottles of this stuff. And all quite delicious.
It is cool to see how the machines bottle, cap, disgorge, and label all those bottles. Quite an industry.
Then the tour was over and we had to get back into town. It was HOT, so I caged a ride from a couple of old French guys. Luckily Doreen was charming them with her impeccable French, and I was just sitting there being happy that we didn’t have to walk in that sun!
We ended up back at the tourist center, and we asked for a nice palce to eat. She gave us a couple of options, and we ended up at a small outstanding restaurant called Ticus. I started out with melon and ham, Doreen had a cold zucchini soup. The melon was perfect – cold and sweet, and the Iberian ham wrapped around it was about the best ham in the world. You could taste the nuts upon which the pigs were fed, and all just melted together in a happy mélange in your mouth.
We asked the owner which cava to order with the meal. He recommended one called Solà Raventós. It was made just down the street, which proved propitious, and it was very, very good. Dry and yeasty, a pale yellow with a nice crown. This is what you look for in a small producer. It had a distinctive taste, and you wanted to drink it all day long.
The main course came, and again we wer impressed with the flavors and quality of the meal. I had a pork shank (the waiter pointed at his feet when I asked what part it was. I was worried that I was going to get a trotter, but my Spanish was almost good enough to assure me that I would not) and Doreen had lamb ribs. Oh, gosh they looked good! The pork was, too. A great meal. (The dessert was odd yet again. Not bad, just odd. Kiwi reduction, cream and apples.)
We then wandered over to the Solà Raventós Cava for a tour. It was fun, as we got to their door they were just opening up. I pounded on the door, and then told them we just had a bottle of their wine. They were impressed, and we had a great time. This was the opposite extreme of Codorniu. The owner even said “We don’t have a train”. But he bottled, labeled, and riddled every bit of his cava by hand. He only had 30,000 bottles in his cave, and told us that every bottle gets old locally.
That is a good life.
But then we got to the Plaza Catalunya Metro station, and it was all a little less clear. It seems as though there are TWO train companies that leave from this station and take you to Sant Sadurni ‘ Anoia. Who knew? We, of course, bought tickets for the wrong one. Not that big a deal, but it did mean that we missed the train we had hoped to catch. Another one left about ½ hour later, and thought it seemed a close run thing, we caught that one.
The landscape around Barcelona is not particularly attractive. So we sat an chatted as the train made its slow and laborious way through the industrial suburbs of the city and the dry landscape just outside of town. Steel mills? In Spain? Who knew? My guess is that they are being subsidized by the EU. Good for Spain, bad for the EU.
We finally made it to town, and got out in the rather desolate train station. Freixenet is just across the street from the station, but we opted to walk into town first to find out what the local tourist folks would recommend. But as we were walking over the bridge, we spotted a small Cava producer along the river. We walked over, walked in and there were son folks packaging up some palates of Cava. We asked if we could have a tour, and they told us no.
Undeterred, we walked out and ambled up to the town center. We found the Tourist office, and they were very nice. There was an English language tour starting at Codorniu in about 20 minutes. We called for a taxi and walked outside. Moments later a late model Mercedes Benz shows up and whisks us away to the Bodega abut two miles outside of town.
It was €2 a piece to take the tour. That did include a movie and a tram ride around the cellars, so it didn’t seem too outrageous. There were about ten other folks by he time the tour stared, and we were put in a darkened theater to watch a movie about the history of Codorniu. All this seemed eerily familiar. But we enjoyed the tour none the less. Doreen had her tram ride (She loves carts) and we had several glasses of Codorniu’s finest. They have 15 miles of caves here, which houses 100 million bottles of this stuff. And all quite delicious.
It is cool to see how the machines bottle, cap, disgorge, and label all those bottles. Quite an industry.
Then the tour was over and we had to get back into town. It was HOT, so I caged a ride from a couple of old French guys. Luckily Doreen was charming them with her impeccable French, and I was just sitting there being happy that we didn’t have to walk in that sun!
We ended up back at the tourist center, and we asked for a nice palce to eat. She gave us a couple of options, and we ended up at a small outstanding restaurant called Ticus. I started out with melon and ham, Doreen had a cold zucchini soup. The melon was perfect – cold and sweet, and the Iberian ham wrapped around it was about the best ham in the world. You could taste the nuts upon which the pigs were fed, and all just melted together in a happy mélange in your mouth.
We asked the owner which cava to order with the meal. He recommended one called Solà Raventós. It was made just down the street, which proved propitious, and it was very, very good. Dry and yeasty, a pale yellow with a nice crown. This is what you look for in a small producer. It had a distinctive taste, and you wanted to drink it all day long.
The main course came, and again we wer impressed with the flavors and quality of the meal. I had a pork shank (the waiter pointed at his feet when I asked what part it was. I was worried that I was going to get a trotter, but my Spanish was almost good enough to assure me that I would not) and Doreen had lamb ribs. Oh, gosh they looked good! The pork was, too. A great meal. (The dessert was odd yet again. Not bad, just odd. Kiwi reduction, cream and apples.)
We then wandered over to the Solà Raventós Cava for a tour. It was fun, as we got to their door they were just opening up. I pounded on the door, and then told them we just had a bottle of their wine. They were impressed, and we had a great time. This was the opposite extreme of Codorniu. The owner even said “We don’t have a train”. But he bottled, labeled, and riddled every bit of his cava by hand. He only had 30,000 bottles in his cave, and told us that every bottle gets old locally.
That is a good life.
posted by Dan Piette at 5:45 PM
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