Ribera del Duero wineries in a day from Madrid

A day of winery visits has a logistical problem most people discover too late.

Somebody has to drive home

And at a tasting, that somebody does not drink. They are the one who has driven a hundred and eighty kilometres to watch everyone else try the wine.

With a driver the problem disappears and the whole day changes character: all four people in the car take exactly the same trip. That is not a comfort argument. It is the difference between going on the excursion and watching it happen.

Three wineries to give you the measure

The region is wide and every winery sits in a different village. These three show you the range:

Protos, in Peñafiel. One of the historic names of the appellation — its first buildings date from 1927 — and one of the most visited. The tour goes down into the tunnels cut beneath the castle and comes back up into the new building, which Richard Rogers designed in 2008.

Pago de Carraovejas, also in Peñafiel. The castle sits behind it, and its restaurant, Ambivium, holds a Michelin star. If you want lunch to be part of the day rather than a stop for fuel, this is where.

Portia, in Gumiel de Izán, over the line in Burgos. The building is Norman Foster’s and you see it from the road before you arrive. It sits just outside Aranda de Duero.

Peñafiel is 180 km from Madrid, Aranda 161. Between the two areas, a little under an hour.

Two visits fit comfortably. Three is tight

Each winery runs an hour and a half to two hours with the tasting, and lunch has to happen somewhere in the middle.

Our suggestion is two wineries and an unhurried lunch. With three, the day turns into a march and you only half enjoy the last one. But the day is yours: if you want all three, we will make them fit.

Book the wineries yourself, and book early

Almost none take people who turn up unannounced, and the well-known ones fill weeks ahead. We do not book them for you.

Once you have your times confirmed, send them over and we build the day around them: what time we leave, how long between one and the next, and where lunch fits.

What a day like this costs

€799 for the car for a full day taking in two wineries, tolls included, with the driver waiting while you visit.

That is a reference figure, and it is worth knowing why: every winery is in a different place. Two visits in Peñafiel is not the same as one in Peñafiel and one in Gumiel de Izán, and leaving at nine is not the same as leaving at eleven. The day stretches or shortens with that, and the price follows.

Tell us which wineries you have booked and at what time, and we will give you the closed price before you commit to anything.

For scale: a day trip to Salamanca, which runs about as long, is €799. Toledo, a long half day, is €349.

The practical details

The boot is yours. If you buy, it fits. You do not have to work out how to carry a case home on a train.

How many of you. The car takes four passengers. For more, we can arrange a van, but the rate is different — ask us and we will tell you beforehand.

Visits and tastings are paid at each winery. We provide the transport and the waiting.

What time you get back. Whenever you say. That is the point of not depending on a last train.