Bodegas Protos
Book the tour of the new winery (architectural gem) and the old cellars under the castle. Protos Reserva is the wine to taste. Easy to combine with the castle museum.
Ribera del Duero's founding winery (1927) — 'the first' — at the foot of Peñafiel castle, with a striking Rogers Stirk Harbour-designed barrel cellar built into the hill. The accessible face of Ribera.
At a Glance
- — You only do one Ribera winery — Vega Sicilia is the one
Anchored beneath the medieval walls of Peñafiel castle, this winery sets ancient history against recent architecture. The Rogers Stirk Harbour design burrows a modern barrel cellar into the limestone hill, giving Ribera del Duero's Tinto Fino the cool, dark conditions it needs. Visitors move from light-filled tasting rooms into the old tunnels under the fortress, one of the best settings in Castilla y León.
How it got here
Castilla y León remains defined by the Duero river that cuts a trench through its high plateau. The town of Peñafiel grew in the shadow of a fortress that watched over this passage for centuries. While the original fortification dates to the tenth century, the present stone walls rose during the Reconquista to command the valley floor. The winery took root in these limestone foothills as the reputation of Ribera del Duero wine matured into a global industry. Modern engineering carved deep tunnels into the hillside to store wine in the same chalky soil that characterizes the slope beneath the castle keep.
Where it sits
The valley floor turns a deep green in spring before the heat of summer cures the plateau grass to gold. Low limestone ridges bracket the Duero river as it snakes through open vineyards and flat cereal fields. Winter brings biting winds from the north and heavy frosts that force the vines into dormancy. The road from Valladolid follows the river past rows of poplars and old stone villages that remain quiet until the harvest arrives. During September the air fills with the smell of pressed grapes and the activity of the vintage before the landscape settles into a long autumnal silence.
What to eat and drink
Lechazo asado is the primary dish of the valley, a suckling lamb roasted in a wood fire until the skin cracks. It comes to the table with a simple salad of raw onions and lettuce. The region produces wine from the Tinto Fino grape, a local variety of Tempranillo that produces dark, tannic reds capable of aging for decades. Morcilla de Burgos, a blood sausage thickened with rice and onions, frequently starts a meal. Bread baked in heavy clay ovens accompanies these heavy proteins, providing a dense crumb to soak up the concentrated juices of the lamb.
Castilla y León: the whole region
The largest region in Spain, and the one that most rewards a car: a plateau of walled cities, Romanesque churches and vineyards, with Salamanca, León, Burgos and Segovia as four genuine anchors spread across four hundred kilometres. There…
Minimum 5 days · better 8-10 days · deep 2 weeks
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In Castilla y León
In Castilla y León
In Castilla y León
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