October in Andalucia

The weather is now just perfect – bluest of  blue skies and the atmosphere as clear as a bell. There is just a tinge of cool in the evening now and we have to have a blanket handy for the evenings when we have our courtyard cinema after/or during supper. The evening are getting darker sooner now and dusk begins at 8, so we can start watching then and stand a chance of getting a reasonably early night. Last night we watched one of the Foyle’s War series, which we love.

So, earlier in the month we went down to Ronda with Nick and Amanda to search out a new winery. We found a lovely one and are looking forward to taking our cooking group round there in April.  It’s in an old monastery which was set up to look after the wounded when the Catholics finally took Ronda back from the Moors in 1489. It has a great history, and after being privately owned and finally abandoned it was taken over by the present owners who took it over in 1989 and are restoring it bit by bit as they produce some lovely wines. There is a great sense of peace about the building, being set in the high cliff face overlooking the great plain below, where the grapes are grown

               

In the old chapel the stainless steel vats are now producing lovely wine

Nick and Amanda and ourselves going round the grounds of the bodega

 The black grapes on the start of their journey

More pics soon

Mike and Lari