A Day on the Altiplano

As we prepared for our day, the rumble of ship’s bow thrusters turned the Epic and unveiled the ancient city of Cartagena outside our balcony.

Cartagena is the second largest city in the autonomous community of Murcia and was founded by the Phoenicians. The region has had a long line of occupying forces in its' violent history. The Carthaginians were followed by the Romans, the Visigoths, the Vandals, the Moors, and finally in 1492 the Christians. Murcia had the misfortune to choose the wrong side of the fight oh too often, including the Peninsular War, the Carlist Wars, and Spanish Civil War. 

Sally joins us from our neighboring balcony to watch the docking of our enormous vessel. Today, Cartagena looks peaceful as it awaits the invasion of Epic's tourists.

The Castillo San Felipe de Barajas stands above the busses that will transport us on today's excursion.

Murcia has only begun to recover and show significant economic growth and recovery from the oppressive rule of the Caudillo, Francisco Franco. Joining the EU has immensely helped this community to become one of the major bread baskets for all of Europe. But today it is not about history or the export of fruit and vegetables – We are headed to Jumilla, the home of Monastrell, and a day of wine tasting!

The drive from Cartagena to Jumilla took us past large agriculture fields confirming we were in one of the bread baskets of Spain.

Our guide for the day was a gentleman named Ignacio. He took great pride in telling us the history, geography and achievements of his home, Murcia. I bring this up because we found it interesting that whenever Ignacio spoke of Franco, he would not say the man's name. He referred to him as our Dictator. Memories last a long time here.

We arrived at our first winery in Jumilla, Bodegas Viña Elena. The wine region sits on a Altiplano (High Plain) and has the climate and soil needed for Monastrell to excel.  Those not familiar with the Spanish indigenous grape Monastrell may know it by the French name, Mourvèdre.

Being a wine geek, I could ramble on about how special the Altiplano is to grapes, the lack of rainfall and what that means, or why olive and almonds trees usually mean that vineyards are nearby.  Instead, I will save you and provide a link to the Bodega's video on these topics - Bodegas Viña Elena 

I do have to insert one geek picture of the soils that one will find in the vineyards of Viña Elena.

Our host for the tour tasting was the winemaker's daughter. She has embraced her mother's work and provided us with a wonderful tour, and leading us through a very educational tasting.

It did not take long for the light to blink in our heads... We are not in America anymore!

She was only 16 years of age and was extremely knowledgeable about wine in general, her mother's creations, and the family's commitment to the land. There is little doubt she will be part of the 4th generation the video speaks of.

When it came time to taste the wines, things only got better.

Reinforcements of siblings joined in to help pour for the tasting and sell Viña Elena wines in the shop. Almonds, Olive Oil, and of course wine were boxed up and loaded into the bottom of the bus.

The next winery of the day was a large corporate winery which buys most of their fruit and bottles or boxes in large quantities. BCI Winery was quite an operation! It was a huge facility with never ending rows of stainless steel tanks and oak barrels.

The one standout about the tour was the extremely large concrete vats used in their process. Concrete vats are used by many winemakers across the globe, but never have I ever seen or heard of vats anywhere near this size – HUMONGOUS! 

FYI - Concrete does not impart any flavor into the wine like oak barrels and tends to create a fresh-fruit forward wine… uh oh, I going wine geek again – sorry. 

The tasting was a little rushed because we had over stayed at Viña Elena and no tour guide wants to miss the ship’s curfew.  So we packed up the bus and headed back to the ship. Honestly, the wines were not of the quality of the first tasting, but the tour was fascinating.

The ride home was all downhill and everyone enjoyed the quiet time in a different way. Some using their time wisely to prepare for the evening events.

We arrived back at the ship carrying cases of wine that had to be checked in and put into storage until we disembark in New York. 

After a quick clean-up, it was dinner time.  We gathered for a wonderful meal, with wine of course, and recounted the day with stories and laughter.

I am starting to see a theme to this adventure...