Vineyard & Wine Tasting Day Trip, Valencia

Get to know Valencia's unique and often overlooked or misunderstood wine region, one with meticulous practices and plenty of old-vine indigenous varietals. Trade the city and beach for the area's picturesque rural countryside and visit the Vera de Estenas winery. Enjoy a tour and wine tasting here, then head to the village of Requena to explore its unique network of underground caves and learn how locals once used them for wine production.

Valencia isn't one of Spain's top wine-producing regions, and for a long time, its reputation settled on mass-produced blends. But if you really dig into the history of Valencian wine and visit some of the old-vine estates, you'll realize that this region is far more than its bulk blends. On this excursion, a guide will lead you into the Valencian countryside, where you'll discover how traditional winemaking methods and indigenous grapes make some truly unique and delicious varietals.

Your guide will collect you at the designated meeting point, then drive you about one hour directly west to the town of Utiel. As you drive, relish the views of vineyards stretching across the fields and hills. Your first stop is the Vera de Estenas winery, where you'll enjoy a complete tour of the grounds and production facilities. If you travel during harvest season (August to September), you might be able to taste some of the grapes straight off the vine.

This particular winery is a favorite, revived in the 1980s with several other independent wineries looking to change the region's reputation. With its completely restored villa and beautiful natural surroundings, many call the area "Valencian Tuscany." You'll enjoy tasting a few of the estate's varietals at the end of your visit. The winery produces classics like malbec and chardonnay, plus blends like Crianza. However, it also has indigenous varietals like Bobal from old vines up to 100 years old. 

You'll spend about 1.5 hours at the winery, then drive roughly 15 minutes to the town of Requena to visit the Caves of the Villa, a network of 22 hand-dug caves stretching underneath the village. Built during the 12th and 13th centuries, they were used as homes, shelters, storage, and wineries. You'll explore the caves and their connecting tunnels to view numerous artifacts highlighting the area's history of wine cultivation. 

From Requena, your guide will drive you back to Valencia, a journey that takes about 45 minutes.