Bodegas Viña Campanero | Spain Uncovered

Concerts in the wineries

One of the many highlights of the year in Jumilla is Música Entre Vinos, where concerts are held in different wineries, giving you a chance to sample the excellent local wines while tasting yummy tapas and listening to great music. What’s not to like?

Having just returned from a fabulous trip to Paris and London, I’m still busy trying to gather as much information as possible about this year’s MEV, which isn’t always easy in this part of the world! I will update this post if more details become available.

The opening event will be held on 8 June in Jumilla’s Wine Interpretation Centre rather than a winery, although food and wine will still be available. Tickets are only 15 euros and can be obtained from Restaurante Casa Sebastian. I gather that the theme will be film soundtracks, so as a Queen fan I’m definitely going to be there, in the hope that Bohemian Rhapsody will be included.

Bodegas Luzón (as seen in the photo above) are hosting the event on 15 June. Each year they manage to surprise me with something different, so I’m looking forward to being surprised yet again at this year’s concert. I have been told that the concert will be Pop-Rock music, both Spanish and English, that I (and many others) are sure to enjoy. For more details and/or to reserve tickets, email Patricia at tour@bodegasluzon.com.

Bodegas BSI are also having their concert on 15 June with Stolen, the group that had everyone up on their feet dancing last year. As BSI is one of the largest wineries, the tour is always interesting – as well as working up an appetite for their wines and tapas! To reserve tickets, email them at enoturismo@bsi.es

There are also two events on 22 June, so you are being spoilt for choice. Bodega Madrid Romero will start their evening with visits to the winery between 8pm and 9pm and you will then be entertained by Sharay Jazz & Friends, while enjoying good food and wine. Tickets are selling fast, so contact them to reserve your ticket by sending an email to: info@bodegamadridromero.com

I’ve been reliably informed that all available tickets have been reserved for the second event on 22 June, however you can add your name to the waiting list if you’d like to visit the Museo Hacienda del Carche-Casa de la Ermita. Particularly if you like Spanish pop from the 80s and 90s, as FyVBand will be providing the music, and of course you can enjoy the two wineries’ fine wines with your tapas. To put your name down, email: tour@casadelaermita.com

Bodegas Viña Elena aren’t having an event this year as there are works being carried out at their winery. however the good news is that you will be able to taste their wines on 6 July at the event being organised by La Macarena in Jumilla’s indoor market. La Macarena always have tasty tapas and the music will be provided by the talented local group Al Golpe, so I will definitely be buying my ticket before they run out. Email them to reserve tickets at: lamacarenabar.restaurante@gmail.com

On 13 July, Bodegas Ribera del Juá will be taking part in Música entre Vinos for the first time. I’m hoping to persuade one of my lovely friends to drive me there! They will have the legendary Jumillano rock band Salicornio accompanying the singer Carmen Maldonado from Granada, who will be performing “Pop through the ages”. Casa Canales will be doing the catering for them on the night. The event will start at 21.00. To book your tickets, either call them on 868087901 or send them an email to: eventos@bodegasriberadeljua.com

If you enjoy flamenco, then the final event at Bodegas Viña Campanero on 20 July will be right up your street. Starting at 21.00, you can look around the smallest winery in Jumilla before enjoying your tapas, wine and music. If you’re lucky, you might catch a glimpse of me showing off my dance skills! Email them to reserve tickets (they’re selling fast!) at bodegas@vinacampanero.com or you can phone them on 969780754 .

Apart from the opening event tickets will cost 28 euros, which includes the concert, tapas, lots of good wine and a glass to take home – I have a cupboard full of MEV glasses! Most events start at 21.00 but do check when reserving your tickets in case they are kicking off at 20.00 for the tour of the winery. Enjoy!

Guide to Bodegas in Jumilla

If you fancy visiting a Bodega in or near Jumilla you are spoilt for choice, however if you are specifically looking for a tour in English that will limit your choice a bit, as Jumilla is inland and therefore many local people only speak Spanish. This guide is intended therefore to point non-Spanish-speaking people in the right direction.

The bodegas situated within walking distance of the city centre are all very different, so this is also a resumé to help you decide which bodega is right for you. You may of course want to visit several bodegas, however you will need a lot of stamina if you intend visiting them all on the same day!

1. Bodegas Viña Campanero

This is the smallest bodega in Jumilla and if you speak a bit of Spanish it is definitely not to be missed. Pedro and his father are very welcoming: they enjoy showing people around and are very proud of their newest acquisition, a small bottling unit, which was only installed last year. There are great views of Sierra Santa Ana from the salón, a tiny wine museum, and they also have a reasonably priced shop on their premises. The bodega is behind BSI, so it would be good to combine a visit here with one at BSI.

http://www.vinacampanero.net/visitas.asp

Museum in Viña Campanro — Museum in Bodega Viña Campanero

2. Bodegas San Isidro (BSI)

The largest bodega in Jumilla is BSI, which is a co-operative. Tours in English are available, but please make sure you book in advance. They have some experimental vines on their site, however in the vendimia we see tractors queuing up with loads of grapes to deposit there, many of them from small vineyards, as well as trailers full of olives later in the year. They also have their own wine museum and a shop on their premises.

http://www.bsi.es/

3. Bodegas Silvano Garcia

They have two members of staff who speak good English, and they do several different tours, including a visit to their aroma room. The visit to the aroma room costs a bit more but all our visitors have said it is worth doing, as it is not only educational but also fun.

If you don’t normally like sweet wine (I didn’t), I recommend forgetting your prejudices and trying their award-winning dulce wines. I am now a convert and particularly enjoy their Monastrell dulce, which is perfect with dessert at the end of a good meal.

http://www.silvanogarcia.es/es-bodegas-silvano-garcia-visitas-a-bodega.html.

4. Bodegas Pedro Luis Martínez

More commonly known as Bodegas Alceño, we think that this bodega is so good because the chief winemaker is very particular about things such as the correct temperature, which is reflected in the quality of their wines. It is the oldest bodega in Jumilla, being founded in 1870. Some English is spoken, but remember to book in advance if you want a tour in English. Don’t forget to buy some wine before you go!

http://www.alceno.com/

5. Bodegas Bleda

We were lucky enough to be guinea pigs for their first tour of the bodega in English several months ago. Antonio Bleda had only been learning English for two months at the time, and we were very impressed by how good he was: by now he probably speaks perfect English!

It is worth visiting this bodega for its location alone: situated about 2 kilometres outside Jumilla on the road to Ontur, and surrounded by vineyards. Not only that, but they have many award-winning wines, though my personal recommendation is their Castillo de Jumilla Blanco, which everybody who has tasted it rates highly – even the committed red wine drinkers! It is also very reasonably priced, so you can afford to buy several bottles to take home.

vinos@bodegasbleda.com

6. Bodegas Carchelo

Slightly off the beaten track, but recommended for a visit because of its location in the Valley of El Carche and because at least one member of staff (Poñi) speaks good English. My daughter Kate was impressed by their branding, and said that she would immediately spot their wines in any wine-shop because of the distinctive black and white hoops around the neck of the bottle.

export@carchelo.com

7. Bodegas Viña Elena

Another family business, which was originally called Bodegas Pacheco after the grandfather of the current generation. It is now named Bodegas Viña Elena after Paco’s youngest daughter Elena, who is being groomed to take over from him. You can see the original bodega as well as the smart new installations, and don’t miss the lovely garden at the back. The bodega is at km 52 on the N344, the main road between Jumilla and Murcia. Tours are available in English by contacting them in advance.

visitas@vinaelena.com

The local bodegas charge from 5€ per person for a tour, including wine tasting and nibbles, though you can negotiate a reduction for a large group. As mentioned above, it is advisable to book in advance, especially if you want a tour in English. All of them sell wine on the premises, so even if you haven’t booked a tour of the bodega you can pop in to buy a few bottles of your favourite wine.

Other bodegas well worth a visit are Bodegas Luzón, Bodegas JM Martínez Verdú, Hacienda del Carche, Casa de la Ermita and Bodegas Finca Omblancas. They are all out of town, which means you can see the vineyards as well as visiting the bodegas. More details can be found on the Ruta del Vino website – you need to scroll down their page to find links to all the bodegas.

Saturday night fever

Saturday night is party night in Jumilla – or it has been so far this month. We thought that last week’s event at Bodegas JM Martínez Verdu would be hard to beat (what a party that was!) but Música entre Vinos at Bodegas Viña Campanero last night was great fun too. One advantage was the location, which is within walking distance of our apartment, so there was no rush to get there on time. I have to confess that this is one of my favourite bodegas: it is the smallest one in the area, so a tour doesn’t take much time; we like their wines too, which is always a bonus; it is very friendly – even our dog Lisa is made to feel welcome by Pedro and his father, though we had to leave her behind on Saturday night!

A lovely evening at Bodegas Viña Campanero

We had assumed that the concert was being held indoors, as has happened in previous years, but when we arrived we discovered that everything had been set up outside. It had been a lovely hot day, and it was starting to become pleasantly cool when we arrived just after 8pm, so we had no objections to this change. One of the joys of living in Spain is that summer evenings aren’t cold, so we can enjoy lots of outdoor events. Even when we left the bodega after midnight, I didn’t need to wear the shawl I had taken.

I went in search of a bottle of water, so that we could all have a cold drink while waiting for the wine to be served. Our friends Lesley and John had arrived before us, while Lesley’s son Nick and his friend Tracey weren’t due to arrive until 9pm. None of us was surprised when Nick and Tracey arrived to find that they hadn’t actually missed anything – have I mentioned the fact that punctuality isn’t a Jumillano characteristic?

We all agreed that the wine was worth waiting for, though we couldn’t agree on our favourite. I really appreciated the chilled white and rosado wines on such a warm evening, but John soon moved onto his usual red wines and pronounced the Tinto Joven as his favourite wine. We expected the food to be good and we weren’t disappointed: I particularly enjoyed the tiny portions of tortilla, the cheeses and the churros, which were served in traditional style with hot chocolate at the end of the evening.

An unexpected bonus was the arrival of our friends Jaqui and Melissa with a couple of our Spanish neighbours. plus we saw lots of other familiar faces. We heard a few other English voices, however I suspect that we were easily outnumbered by the Spanish community, as there aren’t that many British people (or indeed other foreigners) living in this area.

Andrés and Cristóbal were joined by a friend for this number

The music was provided by Andrés Martínez and Cristóbal Cutillas, who played some brilliant riffs on his guitar. The infectious music soon had the appreciative audience nodding in time to the beat and rumour has it a couple of Brits were spotted dancing, along with several Spanish couples. There were loud calls of “Otras” at the end of the evening, and the duo happily obliged.

We were glad that we didn’t have too far to go home, as we have another late night ahead of us. One of our favourite groups Al Golpe is playing tonight, to bring the Fiestas de San Fermín to a close, and they aren’t due to start performing until 22.30. It’s a good thing that we don’t have anything on the agenda for tomorrow morning!