5 plans in the Land of Albariño for Easter Week

Enjoy Easter in the Rías Baixas with various plans in the land of Albariño, allowing you to taste delicious wines and learn about its history

This year, the end of winter is accompanied by Easter. The work calendar allows us to take advantage of the holidays to welcome spring in style. For example, enjoying beautiful plans in the land of Albariño: the Rías Baixas. An area of Galicia that stands out for its delightful climate at this time of year, its natural beauty spots, its gastronomic offer to suit all tastes and budgets and for being the home of albariños, one of the most prestigious white wines in the world.

To convince you to take advantage of these days to explore the Rías Baixas and discover all its charms, we propose five plans in the land of Albariño that you can do in the company of your partner, family or friends. Five experiences will allow you to enjoy the millenary elaborations, such as the wines of the D.O. Rías Baixas.

Tracing the history of Albariño wines from a monastery to a salt mine

In our proposal of plans in the land of Albariño, we could not miss a tour of the most emblematic places in the history of the Albariño grape variety.

For many years, a theory was spread that this grape variety was brought to Galicia by European monks who had traveled the Way of Santiago and settled in the Rías Baixas. Moreover, some experts maintained that the epicenter from which albariño spread throughout the region was the monastery of Armenteira, halfway between Pontevedra and Cambados.

This impressive 12th-century monastery, belonging to the Cistercian order, is in a unique spot, hidden among wild and breathtaking nature, and can be visited every day of the week. In addition, lovers of hiking and nature trails can follow the monastery path, which runs alongside the Armenteira River and allows walkers to immerse themselves in a profoundly beautiful natural space.

If, for many years, it was believed that the monastery of Armenteira was the epicenter of Albariño, science has recently disproved this legend. Why? In the old Roman salt mine in Vigo, grape seeds were discovered, proving that the Albariño variety was already present in the Rías Baixas during the Roman Empire.

This salt mine is now the O Arenal Archaeological Centre, located in the heart of the city of Vigo. Visiting this museum, you can discover the importance of salt in the Roman era and travel 2000 years back in time to find out that the Albariño grape is, in fact, an indigenous variety that was already used in Gallaecia to produce delicious wines.

In addition, the first of our plans in the land of Albariño can be rounded off, for example, by visiting the fishing quarter of the city, O Berbés, or by going to the Pedra market to taste some incredible oysters paired with superb Rías Baixas.

Getting to know Cambados, the capital of the DO Rías Baixas

The second of the plans in the land of Albariño that we have designed takes place entirely in a single town: Cambados, the capital of the Rías Baixas DO.

Cambados is one of the most beautiful towns in Galicia thanks to its extraordinary historic quarter, which includes monuments such as the Pazo de Fefiñáns or the Pazo de Ulloa, its seafaring village soul and two of the most beautiful spots in the region of O Salnés:

• For centuries, the Tower of San Sadurniño helped the citizens of Cambados defend themselves from maritime invasions.
• The ruins of the church of Santa Mariña de Dozo, an architectural ensemble that impresses, above all, for its spectacular open-air arches.

In addition, next to these ruins is the Ethnographic Wine Museum, where you can tour the history, evolution and characteristics of Albariño wines and their production process.

How to round off the second of our plans in the land of Albariño? Enjoy Cambados to the full, walking along its cobbled streets, enjoying its views of the estuary, and, of course, going to its bars and restaurants to taste the best albariños and savor exquisite seafood.

Tasting the best albariños overlooking the sea

In addition to Cambados, there are many other fishing villages where you can experience the relationship between the sea and wine, the two backbones of the Rías Baixas.

In your list of plans in the land of Albariño, you can include visits to towns with such personality as Illa de Arousa, the only island town in Galicia; O Grove, a village surrounded by the ocean; Combarro, the town of a thousand and one granaries; or Vilagarcía de Arousa, a small town brimming with life.

In all of them and many others, you can stop on your tour of the Rías Baixas, sit on a terrace overlooking the sea, and order any of the wines from the DO Rías Baixas. While tasting a floral and citric wine such as Albariño, you can contemplate the beauty of the maritime landscapes and relax.

Our lives are moving faster and faster, so why not take advantage of Easter to slow down the passing of time and just relax?

Let your eyes focus on the swaying of the waves while surprising aromas conquer your sense of smell and wine take over your taste buds.

We always talk about the importance of enjoying life’s little pleasures. Well, these plans in the land of Albariño aim to help you experience them.

Enjoy seafood and the best food and wine pairings

The Rías Baixas are famous all over the world for their wines, but also for their seafood. The fish, shellfish, and mollusks that arrive at the fish markets of this region are the highest quality and most coveted seafood in Europe. The Arousa estuary is known as the continent’s maritime larder.

For all these reasons, when thinking about plans in the land of Albariño, we must include several gastronomic experiences.

The culinary offerings in this region are inexhaustible. You can find restaurants serving traditional cuisine in all the villages of the Rías Baixas. Still, up to 7 Michelin-starred establishments in this region, such as Culler de Pau in O Grove or Yayo Daporta in Cambados. So you can enjoy seafood and Albariño wines, choosing from various possibilities to suit all tastes and budgets.

The important thing is that you see the superb union between seafood and fish and Albariño wines for yourself. It is a happy marriage that has been going on for many centuries and has taken the gastronomy of the Rías Baixas to Olympus.

The sea and the vineyards will melt in your mouth and take over all your senses.

Discover the soul of albariños in Pazo Baión

What are the last of plans in the land of Albariño you can’t miss? A fun and exciting experience through a property with five centuries of history that will allow you to get into the soul of Albariño. Which property are we talking about? Pazo Baión, an enclave in the heart of O Salnés, has become, since 2008, a national benchmark in the wine tourism sector.

What better place to get to know the soul of Albariño wines than a property where wine has been produced uninterruptedly since the 16th century?

Moreover, you should bear in mind that a wine tourism experience at Pazo Baión translates, in reality, into three plans in the land of Albariño:

• Firstly, you can walk through the vineyard hills of Pazo Baión, stroll peacefully through its gardens just at such a critical time as the beginning of spring, be amazed by its imposing palm grove, one of the most important in Spain, and feel the sounds of nature: the chirping of birds, the noise caused by the wind as it rocks the leaves and branches of the trees, the sound of water running through the property…
• Afterward, you will enter the winery where Pazo Baión’s three single-estate Albariños are made. Or, in other words, the heart of this property. It is an extraordinary place where history and innovation go hand in hand. In a room presided over by immense stone columns, you will find some of the most avant-garde devices in winemaking, such as a large concrete egg in which Vides de Fontán, one of the longest-lived Albariño wines on the market, is raised.
• The last stop on this journey into the soul of Albariño is the tasting room at Pazo Baión. It is a historic space that has been refurbished and reconditioned so that it has the lighting and environmental conditions that allow us to taste our wines in an ideal way. A professional from the winery leads the tasting through its three phases: visual, olfactory and gustatory to help you discover and appreciate the goodness of five critically acclaimed Rías Baixas:
  • Condes de Albarei, En Rama, Carballo Galego, and three elaborations from our sister winery, Condes de Albarei.
  • Gran a Gran, a raised albariño with jammy notes, and Vides de Fontán, a Rías Baixas with three years of aging, present a long mouth development and a unique structure.

In short, if you want to spend a few sensational days with your loved ones, you can come to the Rías Baixas and have a great time with these plans in the land of Albariño. These five adventures will make you connect with this region, fall in love with its landscapes and villages, and return to everyday life with your soul and stomach full of happiness.