Top Costa Blanca vineyards to visit for wine tasting

Top Costa Blanca vineyards to visit for wine tasting

It´s no secret as the owner of VillaMia, I love my wine – sometimes a bit too much. With more time off work over the festive period it is good to make the most of what the local area offers and we have found some vineyards worth a visit.

Whilst Rioja is the most famous Spanish wines, the Costa Blanca produces great wines and there are many vineyards or bodegas to visit to find out more about wine production - and taste some varieties, of course.

Luckily for wine lovers. Spain produces an enormous amount of wine, including some real bargains. You can still buy Spanish wines for less than €2. Spain is the second largest exporter of wine in volume and third in value in the world, according to a CaixaBank report. The country produced around 40.7 million hectolitres of wine in 2020 (one hectolitre equals 100 litres).

Here are some favourite bodegas near Jávea to visit.

Bodegas Enrique Mendoza, Alfaz del Pi

This is at the top of the list because the bodega is beautiful, the history is interesting and the award-winning wines are incredible.

Enrique Mendoza is a member of Grandes Pagos de España, a non-profit association of more than 30 prestigious wineries from Spain whose common aim is to produce excellent wines in sympathy with the nature, soil and climate of each vineyard.

The family business was set up in 1989 in Alfaz del Pí and was followed by a second vineyard in Villena, close to Alicante. The bodegas produce a variety of white, rosé and red wines including lovely Chardonnay, Merlot and Pinot Noir as well as olive oil.

The countryside around Bodegas Enrique Mendoza in Alfaz is glorious with amazing views - it's easy to forget it's just six kilometres from Benidorm.

Bodegas Xaló and Bodegas Riko

Head to Jalón where there are two bodegas just a five-minute stroll from each other. These are shops rather than vineyards but you´ll see barrels where the wine is made and be able to buy local wines.

Bodegas Xaló, with more than 50 years of history, is the better-known of the two. At the bodega, you can sample and purchase good local wines and olive oil as well as delicious food. These wines have won many awards with the Bahía de Dénia white wine, sweet Mistela and sparkling Bahía Brut Nature certainly worth stocking up on.

You can book a 90-minute tour of Bodegas Xaló to find out how the wines, mistelas and vermouths are made. This is followed by wine tasting with exquisite meat, cheese and almonds. Both the food and wine are great, so we are happy to recommend this tour.

To visit a local winery in a stunning setting, Bodegas Riko is hard to beat. The visit is likely to begin with a drive to one of their favourite vineyards, el Toll del Gos, and ends with a tasting of their best wines and mistelas paired with local sausages and other local products.

Pepe Mendoza Casa Agrícola, Llíber

Yet another fabulous bodega in glorious countryside is Casa Agrícola. Here you´ll see a fine example of an historic riu-rau building, old dry stone walls and vineyards planted between 1920 and 1970. Then you´ll discover the history and secret of the wines before tasting six wines paired with Spanish cheese and Iberian sausages.

Bodega Museo Maserof, Sierra Bernia

Bodega Maserof is in a picturesque setting in the Bernia mountains - the views are spectacular. You can enjoy wine tasting with a meal at the weekends inside the old Roman villa. Go in September for the treading of the grapes by candlelight for a memorable experience.

Les Freses in Jesús Pobre

Next to the Montgó, Jesús Pobre is a gorgeous place between Jávea and Dénia, and this is where you’ll find the delightful Les Freses vineyard. Les Freses white wine is very palatable and the other wines - red, white and a sweet moscatel - are super too. On a guided tour you´ll find out how this splendid vineyard was cultivated from abandoned strawberry fields, hence the name Les Freses. During the visit you can try the wines accompanied by tapas.

There are many more vineyards to visit nearer Alicante and towards Valencia. But we’ll save those for another time.

My fridges are stocked up for Christmas and if you would like to a rental in the area or have as property to rent I’m happy to explain everything over a glass of wine. Please email michelle@villamia.net