Day Three, Tuesday, Sep. 8th- Douro Valley, Portugal & Rias Baixas in Galicia, Spain:
After an amazing boat ride and lunch at this incredible restaurant called "DOC" we reluctantly left Portugal. Next we traveled to the premier region for growing and producing the best Albarino wines in the world- Rias Baixas in Galicia, Spain. The winery I visited was called Adegas Valminor. The wine they're known for is the 2008 Serra da Estrela Albarino and in my opinion, it's the best wine in their portfolio. This white grape varietal/wine has become increasingly popular around the world over the past few years  and because of this fact, more countries are attempting to grow and produce their own Albarino grapes/wine.  However, I believe that Rias Baixas, Spain is by far the best growing region and climate for this particular grape varietal.

The 2008 Serra da Estrela Albarino is one of my new favorite white wines to drink with or without food. The wine has aromas and flavors of apricot, pear and honeysuckle, accented by mineral notes. If you haven't tried an Albarino wine yet, I highly recommend this one to be your first! You won't be disappointed.  On Wednesday September 9th, the group and I will fly to Bilboa, Spain for a day without wineries but most definitely not without wine!

Day 4, Wednesday, Sep. 9th, Bilboa, Spain:
My group flew to Bilboa, Spain today and I can honestly say that it is one of the most beautiful cities I've ever been to! I would really love to come back again one day and stay longer. The architecture, the restaurants, the Guggenheim Museum (pictured), the shopping, etc., are all truly amazing. The city is a must for anyone who plans on traveling to Spain! Since the majority of our day was spent sightseeing, we didn't really start drinking wine until dinner.

Prior to going to dinner we had asked the gentleman at the front desk of our hotel which restaurant he would recommend we try. Little did we know he would end up sending us to the most expensive restaurant in Bilboa. Let's put it this way; there was a bread service charge!!! In addition to that I didn't see an appetizer on the menu for less than 15 Euros- ouch!

The wines we ordered were wines that are not available in the States, so I'll just let you know that we started out the dinner with an Albarino which was not as good as the Serra de Estrela we had on Tuesday, 2 bottles of sparkling Cava - same producer but different vintages, a Priorat which is a medium bodied red wine usually made predominantly from Garnacha grapes, and ended the dinner with a 1986 Quinta de Noval Colheita Tawny- excellent! This port was the only wine we had at dinner that you could find in the States. The port was very balanced, elegant and had really nice almond, caramel, and golden raisin flavors and aromas. It will be sad to leave Bilboa tomorrow, but I am excited to go to the highly touted Rioja region and visit the wineries of Faustino and Campillo.