With the Ruta del Vino de la Sierra de Cádiz you can discover the best wines of Arcos de la Frontera and Prado del Rey. In Arcos de la Frontera, red wines are elaborated and included in the
If you are passionate about the world of wine, we are sure you will love this Ruta del Vino de la Sierra de Cádiz (“Wine Route of the Sierra de Cadiz”). In Arcos de la Frontera, red wines are elaborated and included in the “Tierra de Cádiz” denomination of wines. Within this denomination, there are also white table wines from the Sierra de Cádiz, from the Arcos vineyards. Some examples are the Tierra Blanca of Bodegas Páez Morilla and the wines of Prado del Rey.
Arcos de la Frontera has wineries that breed and label the Regantío Viejo (Bodegas Regantío Viejo), Viña Lucía de La Vicaría (Bodegas Páez Morilla) and Taberner y Barbazul de Huerta de Albalá red wines. The same goes for the wines of Bodegas Rivero, in Prado del Rey, heirs of that mythical Pajarete that triumphed in Europe in the early nineteenth century. At that time, wines brought from the Sierra de Cádiz were much appreciated at the most famous tables in France. The Pajarete of those times was a sweet wine with very similar characteristics to what is now a port wine. Today, the winery makes red and white wines and you can find this natural sweet wine: Pajarete must.
Itinerary
Arcos de la Frontera
Gateway of the Route of the White Villages, Arcos is probably one of the most beautiful villages in Spain, declared a historical-artistic monument. Perched on a rock, it enjoys excellent views of horse farms, bulls, orange orchards, almond trees, vine and olive trees. You can see it from the known as balcony of Arcos, in the Plaza del Cabildo. Don’t miss this municipality during the Ruta del Vino de la Sierra.
You can make the most of your visit to this charming town with guided tours organised by the Tourist Office. For example, a specific one to know its wonderful Andalusian and Arabic-inspired patios. They emphasise as tourist attraction their Holy Week, declared of National Tourist Interest; and Christmas, where the whole town is transformed into a Living Bethlehem, of Tourist Interest in Andalusia.
Among the offers that Arcos holds to the visitor, in addition to discovering its monumental complex, we could mention the practise of water sports in the lake of Arcos and the free flight in hang gliding or paragliding, given its exceptional conditions for it.
Pairing wines
Compañía General de Vinos de Cádiz winery, in Arcos de la Frontera, recovers the old wines of Regantío Viejo and is creating new proposals, such as Fine Tempo. In the Regantío estate you can enjoy wines on weekends. They propose to pair them with good chorizo and loin in butter (lomo en manteca), organic fried eggs and a delicious potato fritá. It is available only for lunch, and you have to call to book. So that parents can have lunch more peacefully, the estate has an original nursery service for children to play outside with children’s entertainers. Finca Regantío Viejo. Alberite-Arcos Road CA-6105, km. 8. Reservation phone: 956108306. This winery is unmissable in the Ruta del Vino de la Sierra.
The Regantío Viejo de Arcos Winery proposes two routes of flavours. One of them consists of a visit to the winery with wine tasting and a subsequent lunch.
Prado del Rey
In this municipality, belonging to the Route of the White Villages, the human footprint goes back to the Paleolithic. However, its most emblematic historical legacy is the Roman city of Iptuci, located south of the town. They had their own minting of coins: the quotations of Pliny and other Roman historians attest its importance. Currently, it cannot be visited.
The Bodegas Rivero offer to organise your visit and to find accommodation. They will also inform you about tapas routes, meals and other visits in the area, such as a salt evaporation pond in the Sierra de Grazalema. They could not be missing in the Ruta del Vino de la Sierra de Cádiz.
Salinas de Hortales
Located at the top of the “Cabeza de Hortales”, it was the Phoenicians who began the exploitation of their salt evaporation ponds, reaching all their splendour in Roman times.
Emerging from a salt water spring, they are one of the last inland salinas that remain in operation in Andalusia. Its activity has been documented since the fourteenth century. However, according to the scholars of the matter, the Salinas de Hortales were already worked by the Phoenicians. These had their maximum splendour in Roman times, although they continued to give salt in the Middle Ages. Today they are still exploited by a family of the Sierra in their fourth generation. Currently, the owners show, on request, all the salt evaporation pond. Of course, their main interest is the sale of “flower of salt”, much appreciated in European markets for its purity. This specialisation allows the profitability of the salt evaporation pond and, therefore, the maintenance of this traditional activity. Tourist Office Phone: 956 724 436
As you can see, the Ruta del Vino de la Sierra is much more than wine.