My wife and I made our first visit to Barcelona and, more specifically, Sitges Spain for the holidays. While we mostly planned to relax, we did have two excursions we definitely wanted to do. One was paella cooking and the other was a winery tour. While booking a paella class in Barcelona was easy, we struggled to find a good tour in the region until I stumbled across an Open Guide Tours website. Albeit a little apprehensive because this place wasn't connected to the big box sites like Viator or Open Guide, I decided to roll the dice and reach out. I'm so glad I did!
The owner Rob Pinto responded to my web inquiry with an email almost immediately. After a few email exchanges we settled on a date and to do a two winery plus lunch tour of the Penedes Wine Region in Catalonia Spain (just northwest of Barcelona).
Rob picked us up from our Sitges hotel and was very punctual. From there he engaged us in pleasant conversation about himself and the region en route to our first stop: Pere Ventura to explore their Cava operation. The bottling site went three floors underground and was appropriately described as a labyrinth given the bottles wrapped around turns and tunnels almost endlessly. Rob did not join the tour but met up with us at the end while we sampled various versions of cava paired with breads, meats and cheeses.
From there, he took us to their sister site Can Bas where he led the tour himself (apparently he also does professional tours for the company along with running his own operation). He did a masterful job of explaining all the various wines as well as the entire grounds we explored. After sampling a few wines there we went to a local restaurant for lunch. I admired the fact that he allowed my wife and I to dine alone while he ate nearby. Not everyone masters the art of being both engaging and respectful of distance at the exact same time. He navigated this delicate space with ease.
What was most impressive was that on the way back I inadvertently left my phone in his car. He was kind enough to bring it back to the hotel for me promptly and with no expectation of a tip (I tipped him anyway for the inconvenience).
We will fondly remember our time on this tour and with Rob Pinto, as he helped make our visit to the region quite special. read more