One of the most attractive things for the visitors in our area, among the beaches and the good communications and easy access to Barcelona region from almost any part of the worlds, is its gastronomy and its wines. Did you know that there are 4 certificates of origin exclusive of Barcelona province? CO PENEDÈS This area located between the pre-litoral mountains and the mediterranean coast, with a huge amount of microclimates  and the ocean breeze, makes it  a privileged piece of land for wine production. In this land with soft ondulations, the three areas that conforms this certificate of origin can be easily identified : the Upper Penedès, close to the mountains, the Maritime Penedes, next to the sea, and the Central Penedes, located between both of them. The most cultivated grape type raised in Penedès CO is the Xarel·lo, with which mainly they produce young wines, smooth but with body, fruity and aromatic. You can also find here very acceptable vintage wines, with a good consistency, warm and with a mineral end. Some of the most famous wine cellars located in this area are Bodegas Torres, here you can find some of their enotouristic experiences. 

(c) Bodegas Torres

CO ALELLA It belongs to the territory located at the Maresme region, where our hotels are located, and to the area of the Oriental Vallès, 15km to the north of Barcelona. This is one of the smallest CO and also one of the oldest in the Iberian Peninsula. There are only 8 wine production wine cellars and 300 hectares of vineyards, most of them of ecological agriculture, that elaborate very small and high quality productions. The white wines produced in this region are historically known as Barcelona's burgeoisie  cellar , but they also elaborate cavas, red, rosés, sweet and sparkling wines. If you visit us by end September, we reccomend you to make an excursion to the city of Alella, as they celebrate the wine days of this certification of origin, a very interesting experience in which you can enjoy guided visits, tastings, wine-pairing sessions and other related activities. If you'd like to visit a cellar of this area, we reccommend you our experience Picnic at the Vineyards, that is made in a cellar of this certification of origin.

(c) Bouquet d'Alella

CO PLA DE BAGES The Bages region, located at the central area of Catalonia, has a great geological patrimony and has been declares as Geopark of Central Catalonia by UNESCO's geoparks global network. The production of this certification of origin goes from the Montserrat, Sant Llorenç del Munt, de L'Obac, and Castelltallat mountains to the Montcau massif. The autoctonous grape variety of this region is the Picapoll, that grows exclusively in this area, and with which they get fruity white wines with a fresh aroma and lots of personality.   At CO Pla de Bages the protection of its landscape has a big importance because of its formations delared as natural parks, so among of enjoying delicious wines, here you'll find the perfect spot for nature lovers. A place that's worth to visit, besides of Montserrat Monaserty, is the city of Cardona, with its famous salt mines and its historical castle. We went to visit them with Sumus Hotel Stella & Spa' staff  when we closed the hotel last season, so we know them by first hand and we can assure you that is a very interesting excursion. If you'd like to, you can see the photos in our Facebook site.

Cardona's salt mine, in our staff anual excursion

CO CAVA The first attempts to elaborate sparkling wines in the iberian territory began in the XIX century, but the catalans knew of their existence since the XVII century, as Girona's cork manufacturers supplied the corks to the french Champagne producers. Cava was inspired in the elaboration method of the Champagne, and is a sinonimous of celebration. This autoctonous drink from Catalonia is produced at the High Penedès region, where the 96% of the whole territory is made, so we could declare the city of Sant Sadurní d'Anoia as the Cava's capital. Ther you can visit the Freixenet and Codorniu's cellars, two of the most reknowned internationally, but you also have other interesting options, such as Juvé i Camps. Here you will find a list of the cava cellars in this area.

(c) Cavas Freixenet