A wine tourism getaway on the St. John’s long weekend

The beginning of summer is the perfect time to take a wine tourism getaway and enjoy the aromas and flavors of the best Albariño wines

The end of June is a special time of the year. On the one hand, it welcomes the longest days of the year. Those in which the sun takes the longest time to set. On the other hand, it marks the end of spring and the beginning of summer, the hottest time of the year when we look for outdoor activities. Both processes are combined, above all, on the night of San Juan, an evening in which we celebrate the passage from one season to another and honor nature.

We make bonfires, eat sardines and drink wine. We leave behind bad experiences and ask for new wishes. We toast accompanied by our loved ones under the stars. And, on St. John’s Day, we wash our faces in water scented with flowers. All these beautiful traditions combine perfectly with a wine tourism plan to enjoy nature during the St. John’s long weekend.

During these days, the vineyards are already decorated so that the grapes begin to ripen on their long road to the harvest, which will also coincide with the end of summer. The splendorous green of the vineyards is a true spectacle for the senses.

A wine tourism plan to inaugurate summer

So what better way to inaugurate the summer with a wine tourism getaway? A plan that combines the power of nature in all its splendor, with unique and refreshing elaborations, perfect to combat the summer heat and toast with loved ones.

At Pazo Baión we know perfectly the symbolic value of St. John and also how valuable these days are to enjoy unique natural environments and disconnect for a while from the world around us. Therefore, today we are going to propose a wine tourism getaway in the Rías Baixas in which nature, history, the warm climate of the estuary, and, above all, the best Albariño wine combine. For this, we have five different plans that fit the desires of all wine lovers:

• Microuniverse Pazo Baión.
• Estate Wines.
• The Soul of Albariño.
• Albarei Selection.
• Line Expert’s Tasting.

These five adventures include of them, a guided tasting and a visit to the most beautiful corners of a centenary estate. Join us to discover five of these magical places that will make your wine tourism getaway this last weekend of June a memorable one.

The pazo and its inner courtyard

What we know today as Pazo Baión was originally the Casa de Fontán, a stately building that has watched, undaunted, the flow of history for five centuries. The old fidalgos have given way to the exciting wine and wine tourism project of Pazo Baión, launched in 2009 by Condes de Albarei.

After the renovation designed by the prestigious architect César Portela, the pazo has regained all its splendor, combining scrupulous respect for its history and tradition with avant-garde architecture. Within its stone walls, visitors can discover the centenary Galicia and be impressed by the majesty of an imposing building.

As if all this were not enough, the pazo guards, in its heart, a real jewel: its inner courtyard. An Andalusian architectural influence transferred to Galicia overwhelms by its beauty. What was once a moat is now a pond. The charm of the courtyard, spacious and bright in the purest Andalusian style, is enhanced by a blanket of wisteria. Such is its charm that it is the chosen site for special events such as weddings.

In addition, during the harvest, it becomes the nerve center of the winery, watching kilos and kilos of grapes go by, which end up becoming three single-estate Albariños with great personality and structure.

The vineyards

Beyond the immense architectural and heritage value of the pazo and its elements, if there is a protagonist space in a wine tourism getaway at Pazo Baión, it is the vineyards. At this time of the year, the prodigious nature of the estate is in full bloom, after coming back to life in spring. In the case of the vines, the winter months allowed them to regenerate and during the spring stage, they began to prepare to delight us again, at the end of the summer, with their grapes.

Observing the vivid colors of the wine-growing landscapes is a spectacle. The natural beauty of the vineyards is complemented by the green aromas that the beginning of summer brings with it.

A sensory experience that is completed with the typical smells of this time of the year. If Pazo Baión wines stand out for their intense varietal perfume and aromatic complexity, a walk among the vines fills the lungs with pure air in which floral scents dance.

The palm grove

We move from the space par excellence that should be included in a wine tourism getaway to another much more surprising one: a palm grove. Yes, a set of majestic palm trees transform the wine landscape of Pazo Baión.

This palm grove has more than a century of history and was the inheritance left to the estate by one of its owners: Adolfo Fojo. This man had lived in Argentina for many years and on his return to Galicia, he brought with him the greatest symbol of the “indianos” (returned Galician emigrants): the palm trees.

Anyone who has been in the regions where emigration to America at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century was massive, will have seen houses presided over by a palm tree. A beautiful trace of the history of Galicia that we can still see today throughout our geography.

The truly extraordinary thing about this corner is that there are not one, not two, not three trees. The palm grove of Pazo Baión is made up of no more and no less than 22 palm trees. This makes it extraordinarily impressive and powerful.

If we add to this that there are vineyards around it, the picture is bucolic, almost implausible. A place is so beautiful and peculiar that it does not seem of this world. But it is on this planet and in this space-time dimension, and with a wine tourism getaway, you can discover and enjoy it.

The winery

The modern winery of Pazo Baión is located in what were once the stables of the manor house. In such a way its historical architectural structure protects the most cutting-edge technological advances in the field of enology, such as a cement egg for wine aging.

Anyone interested in the production of Albariño will find the winery a fascinating place. While the layman will be pleasantly surprised to discover the complexity and affection with which the wines are made.

The Pazo Baión wine tourism getaway has one of its high points in the guided tour of these facilities. A moment of the plan that combines didactic knowledge with the visualization of the machinery that turns the grapes into centenary elaborations. After visiting our winery, you will never look at wine with the same eyes again. Because now you will know all the passion, effort, and wisdom used by the winemakers to give these elaborations complexity and personality.

The tasting room

Our five wine tourism getaway proposals combine nature, history, and knowledge, as we have seen so far. But we have reserved the highlight for the end: the guided tasting of sensational wines from the D.O. Rías Baixas.

The best Albariños are not tasted just anywhere but in the tasting room. A large and elegant space that was once an auxiliary room of the cowsheds and is now one of the nerve centers of the winery.

A place that makes an impact upon entering it because of a very powerful architectural element and two visual and aesthetic games:

• The powerful stone columns support the ceiling and articulate the space.
• The play of light turns such a large space into an intimate place.

The combination between the tradition represented by the columns and the avant-garde makes visible the fabulous furniture designed by César Portela himself, the man who decidedly opted to enhance the value of the columns and make the space so large.
All this makes the tasting room the perfect place to end the wine tourism getaway and let the senses delight in Albariño wines with five centuries of history.

Today we have talked about five areas that make Pazo Baión a unique place for a wine tourism getaway, breathing fresh air, pleasing the eye with magical landscapes, and, above all, enjoying albariño, a millenary elaboration. But there are many more corners of the estate to explore and discover. Take advantage of the longest daytime of the year to enjoy all of them. The best way to take advantage of this bridge that gives way to summer.