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The night we arrived, it rained in the province of Burgos. The next day was cold and the roads were rather slick. It was really cold and I am from Nevada! We were to meet César today. We drove from Tortoles where we were staying to Olmedillo de Roa. Our entire trip to Spain was to come to this place. Olmedillo is a small village. If you are not paying attention you could drive right through it and miss it. It is anchored by an impressive church and there are vineyards all around it emphasizing the point that this is a good place for vines!

We met up at the Bar Castilla. Along with César was José Luis. José Luis is the one who works the land and is also the winemaker. He is a third generation grower-vintner. Weeks later in our conversation, we would defer to him as the wizard of the land! The Bar Castilla is a small joint where we grabbed a quick espresso to dispel the chill. Then we walked across the street to the winery.

“We are a modest winery”, César said. There was no sign on the building that said this was a winery. It was certainly modest from the outside.

But inside, it was well organized with fermentation tanks, oak barrels stacked up and bottles docked in wire crates. César gave us a presentation of their winery. His pride in this place was very evident.I wanted to see the vineyards. Problem was that it was very cold and the rain overnight had made the roads to the vineyards quite muddy and not very driveable. We had come all the way and I was afraid that we may not be able to see the vineyard itself. Call me a romantic but I wanted to see the plants from whence the wine came! I guess the disappointment was too transparent on my face. José Luis said that we can probably make the drive. This was going to be a good day. It was a good day..just really really cold!