Wine Tourism Route - Riberas de Miño and Chantada Sub-zones
Enjoy a day focused on the world of wine, with a first-hand look at the local “heroic viticulture” and the grape growers and winemakers who have made this region famous. This route will take you along the banks of the Miño River, where you can admire the characteristic terraced vineyards, combined with other activities such as visiting wineries and taking a short hike among the grapevines.
This wine tourism route begins at the Arxeriz Ethnographic and Ecomuseum. At this museum you will have an opportunity to learn more about life on the banks of the Miño River in days gone by, as well as the customs and traditions of the local people whose lives have been so closely linked to viticulture. This museum also contains an entire exhibition room dedicated to the historic equipment used to harvest the grapes and produce the wine.
After this visit to Arxeriz, you will take a tour of a modern winery and have a chance to taste the results of the hard work of the local grape growers and winemakers. Next, you will have various options:
- To visit the Abadía da Cova winery and viewpoint, which are very close to the Ecomuseum.
- To visit other wineries in the area around Belesar (about 20 minutes away): Adega Castrofiz, Adega do Veiga, Amedo, A Mingona-Antonio do Nicho, Condado de Sequeiras, Diego de Lemos Adegas e Viñedos, Finca Stincilla, Os Cipreses, Primitivo Lareu, Ribada, and Vía Romana.
By the time you finish your winery visit and wine tasting, it will probably be lunchtime. If you add the visit to Abadía da Cova, the closest restaurant is the one in Praia da Cova (A Cova beach). Also, the towns of Pantón and O Saviñao are about 20 minutes away (another option would be Chantada, about 30 minutes away). If on the other hand you decide to visit a winery in the area around Belesar, the Adega do Veiga winery has its own restaurant, and the town of Chantada is about 15 minutes away.
After lunch, you will travel to Belesar, a charming town on the banks of the Miño River. This is where you will find the start of the hiking trail proposed for the afternoon (PR-G 183, the Belesar Vineyards Route, low level of difficulty). This route is about four kilometres long, and it takes you directly into the heart of the local grape-growing landscapes. This is a linear route, so if you are visiting during the winter when it gets dark at about 6.00 p.m., you might want to turn around at the halfway point, or call a taxi to pick you up at the end and take you back to Belesar (the closest taxi stand is in Chantada: 982 440 512).
COMMENTS
We recommend starting this itinerary at 11.00 a.m., which is the time when the Arxeriz Ecomuseum opens in the morning.
The museum is located in a 17th-century pazo, or manor house, on an estate measuring 35 hectares. The buildings house a number of exhibition rooms.
Ribeira Sacra representa un entorno natural único, que tenemos el deber de preservar, para que puedan disfrutarlo, al igual que nosotros, las generaciones futuras.
The wide range of food and drink on offer here owes to the region's rich land, which produces top-quality products, prepared using traditional procedures which have survived into the modern day.
A little over four kilometres long, this linear route makes its way down to the level of the river Miño along well-kept tracks and pathways, leading us through vineyards to finally arrive at the hamlet of A Veiga, some way downstream.
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