I’m afraid our Monday night session have been suspended indefinetely.  For the moment we have no sign up classes available on a regular basis.

However, for those of you who live here in Madrid a wine tasting with a group of friends can be a really fun evening and it’s a lot more economical than you might think.  We can customize a private wine tasting for your friends in out tasting room or in your home or work place.   We even can do a more in-depth course over several weeks if you really want a detailed wine tasting experience.  Just drop us a line for more information at info@planetavino.net.

See below for a more detailed description of our basic class…but we can adapt it to suit your needs.

Visitors to Madrid

I feel your pain!  There are really no wine tasting opportunities in English in Madrid (actually not many in Spanish either!).  We originally planned our Monday night sessions to address that need, but unfortunately we can’t offer those for the moment.  In the meantime for wine lovers visiting Madrid there are a few vital stops I would recommend. 

1.  The wine store Lavinia at Calle Ortega y Gasset 16.  It a modern, beautiful store, not inexpensive, but with a lovely restaurant and bar upstairs.  You can get a bottle in the store and drink it at store price upstairs.  Also there are autoservice Enomatic wine dispensers to try some really great Spanish wines.  You get a card at the register and charge it with some money and then you can help yourself to some tasting pours of some top wines…lots of fun and unique in Madrid!

2.  Casa Lucas at Cava Baja 30, near Plaza Mayor.  My favorite wine bar in Madrid.  Not only because the wine selection by the glass is excellent and the tapas outstanding, but especially because the service and the welcome is unfailingly warm and inviting.  These guys are awesome!  My favorite tapas are the Cariñena tosta, the Arroz cremoso, the carpaccio de pulpo and canelonis de curry….really unique and delciious food.  I tend to order wine by the bottle and they alwasy ahve new and great recommendations…but by the glass is great too.  Go early, they open at 8PM,  to get a seat if want to order food.  (Make sure you don’t confuse them with the famous Casa Lucio across the street…definetely not my favorite!)

3.  Taberneros at Calle Santiago 9, near Plaza Mayor:  Excellent wines and excellent tapas in a gorgeous setting, though the service is never what it is in Casa Lucas.  It has remained one of my favorites over the years…love the cecina, the scallops, the potatoes and eggs with truffles and many more.  Great selection of dessert wines by the glass…very hard to come by in Madrid. 

4.  Mercado de San Miguel, also right by Plaza Mayor:  Newly added to my list.  It is not perfect and sometimes it can be closed for private events, but Pinkleton, the wine bar in the Mercado has some of the best wines in Madrid.  I love to go there with my friends…we usually order by the bottle, but the by-the-glass selection is excellent.  These guys know their stuff and can recommend a great bottle of wine for a good price.  Last time we didn’t spend more than 20€ a bottle.  If you like the bottle you can even buy one at a reduced price to go.  Grab a table and go around the market and get a few tapas to go with your wine.  The cheese stand is outstanding as is the olive stand.  My personal favorites are the Sorlut oysters at the oyster stand.  Lots of choices at different price ranges.  Love it…a great addition to central Madrid!

Basic Class Description 

We strive to give the client a fun, informative and interactive introduction to the amazing wines of Spain.  We provide each student with a handout about Spanish wines and a list of the wines to be tasted.  The brief multi-media presentation presents an overview of the Spanish wine world, introducing the clients to the characteristics of Spanish wines and the major Spanish wine regions.

For the class themed “New Spanish Stars,” we propose to serve eight premium wines from around Spain.  We will serve 2 whites and six reds.  The wines are high quality wines that provide a good introduction to the excellent value-quality relationship here in Spain.  Examples of “joven” through reserva level wines will be served.   We also like to show the whole range of quality in Spanish wines, from inexpensive wines (8-10 euros) to some high level reservas (20-30 euros).
The idea is to cover the whole Spanish wine scene through the wines presented, with special emphasis on the new up and coming regions.  We will serve a wine from each of the more traditionally famous areas, Rioja and Ribera del Duero but most of the wines will be from the many rising stars, such as Priorat, Somontano, Bierzo, Jumilla, La Mancha, and the very trendy wine category of Vinos de la Tierra.