Our group of 24 (plus our tour manager and coach bus driver) sat on the upper floor for dinner…read more We were served family style of fresh baked bread, crispy pork belly, croquettes, pimentos de padron, a tomato salad (thinly sliced) drizzled with balsamic vinegar, grated cheese and olive oil, and lamb shank with potatoes. We were served with copious amounts of red and white wine. Dessert too, but I didn't take a photo and don't recall what it was. Overall, a great dinner with friends. I cannot comment on the price because it was part of our tour package.

The wines we had were all less than exciting but the service, food and ambiance more than made up…read morefor it. There wasn't an English menu so we pointed and hoped for the best. The first dish that came out was a butternut squash soup with a poached egg and truffle oil. Solid and tasty. The waitress didn't speak any English but she went the extra mile. I pulled up Google translate and she explained the wines we tasted via the app. Huge kudos. The next up was a large entree style Cuttle fish and risotto. The risotto was very nice, but the Cuttle fish was a bit to fishy and overpowered the dish; as usual Marie ate based on what I preferred and I was able to polish off the risotto (and she ate the cuttlefish) without offending the staff. An unexpected bonus was how well it paired with my wine. If I lived here I wouldn't come back for the food, but the drinks could certainly draw me in. Last but not least they handled an impromptu tasting seamlessly (nod to Google Translate without whom none of this would be possible), so don't be afraid to ask.

There's a lot of good wine available in Spain and at very reasonable prices both inside a…read morerestaurant and out. During our recent trip to the Iberian Peninsula, Gayle and I enjoyed finding a wine shop, chatting with store staff, and buying a few bottles for later hotel relaxation. Vinos Castro is located on the Camino de Santiago (aka the Way of St. James) and within a block from the Cathedral of Santo Domingo de la Calzada and a nice Parador. We were actually staying at the other Parador in Town (Bernardo Fresneda), but its all an easy walk. Did I mention that this is the Rioja region? That means lots of good reds in the general categories of young (Joven), older (Crianza), and Reserva. We picked out a nice Reserva for about $18 and added a nice White and Rose for good measure. The guy working the counter knew his wine well, even though our Spanish and his English weren't perfect. Gayle loved the conversation (at her self-described fluency of a bright 4 year old - lots of present tense). And when we were done, it was all boxed up nicely for travel and just hanging out.

Came here on a wine tour through Rioja in October. This was our final stop and quite the surprise…read moreas it was inside the high walls of a city/village. This was definitely the most unique winery of the tour, and possibly one of the most uniques ones I've ever experienced. Based on the size and look of it when we walked in, we were expecting it to just be a tasting room. However, it was indeed a working winery, the wine making just happened underground! I've been in wine caves before, but never like these where the wine making process is done in the caves and tunnels as well. A very cool thing to learn about and see first hand. The caves were pretty expensive and fun to explore with our tasting host. At the end of the tour we got to taste two of their wines in the cave, and enjoyed a cheese and meat pairing with the two. We really enjoyed one of the wines we tried here and ended up getting a couple bottles of it. The wines were extremely reasonably priced so we also ended up getting a couple bottles that we didn't try. We've had one of them so far and it was fabulous. Also cool about this winery is that all of the bottles/labels are based on fables. It was very interesting to learn about each one.

When I was traveling in Spain a few months ago I ran into the youngest son of the Palacios family,…read moreRaphael. He's gone on and done his own thing in Galicia, making wines with the Bobal grape. His family legacy however has always been Priorat and the Palacios are famous for it. Recently enjoyed the La Terrasses 2009 Priorat. Man did this wine sing, Smooth, complex fruity, earthy, It was all over the spectrum. Think of a Chateauneuf du Pape with a twist. A very good price performance value for something that will pair well with rich foods.

Crossed the bridge from Spain to France a couple of years ago, now, stopping on on our way out of…read moreFrance into Spain. Fantastic, friendly proprietor that doesn't mind two stinky hikers at his bar. My kind of place! Wonderfully chilled wine and wonderful selections!