Visiting wineries in Penedes

This is taken from the bridge linking the platforms at Villafranca de Penedes. The Torres winery used to be here, but now there are only administrative offices. The visitors centre is a few kilometers away in the countryside, actually within the Mas la Plana estate, which produced a Cabernet Sauvignon wine in 1970 that beat first growth clarets to win the 1979 Wine Olympiad. But that is another story for another tidbit.

If you have a day to spare whilst visiting Barcelona, it is worth making this trip. You can even be greedy and add an extra stop on the way back and visit the centre of Cava production, Sant Sadornia d'Anoia, but then you definitely need a whole day. Start the journey at Estacio Sants station in Barcelona and take the train to Villafranca de Penedes. The visit to Torres will require a taxi ride from the station. Having made your way back to the train station after visiting Torres, take the train back to Barcelona and get off at the next stop to visit the Cava wineries. In fact before you pull into the station, you'll see the Frexeinet winery, which comes right up to the railway line. I can't tell you much about Sant Sadurnia d'Anoia. We didn't start to visit Torres early enough and also spent too much time in the town of Villafranca itself and so missed the closing time for Frexeinet and the other Cava wineries.