In today’s post we move to Valoria La Buena (Valladolid) and we go to Concejo Hospedería to interview one of its managers, Enrique Concejo. Concejo Hospedería recently received the award for Best Wine Tourism Accommodation 2016 and it is a pleasure for the Viavinum Wine Tours team to be able to share with our readers first-hand the exchange of impressions with the Concejo team.
First of all, I would like to tell more about the location, to understand where we are. Valoria La Buena is a small town situated in Valladolid Province, in Castilla y León region. It belong to the Denomination of Origin Cigales.
What has it meant for you to receive such an important award from ACEVIN as the best Wine Tourism Accommodation 2016 in Spain?
It has been an impressive recognition for us and for the Cigales Route, on a personal level it has been a huge injection of energy to continue betting on our quality project in Valoria.
ORIGINS OF CONCEJO HOSPEDERÍA AND DENOMINATION OF ORIGIN CIGALES
What were your origins and where are you located?
Our project is located in Valoria La Buena, within the Cigales Denomination of Origin. Since I was a child, I had dreamed of dedicating myself to the world of wine, in the 90’s together with my father, we planted the first vineyards, then we began to produce wine (always from an idea of quality), and eventually came the first recognitions and the first visits to the vineyards.
It was then that we dreamed of restoring the old family mansion that had been in ruins for years and dedicating it to tourism and gastronomy, always from the perspective of wine.
The hotel is a building that has part of the X century and part of the XIII and XVII centuries, the decor is all original. All the rooms are different. We have a beautiful terrace to drink wines outdoors and a cozy restaurant where you can enjoy local products and familiar treatment in a privileged environment.
What makes you unique and special?
THE CELLARS OF CONCEJO HOSPEDERÍA
Normally behind a project with such a strong investment there is a large winery or a large business group, in our case we are a very small family winery, whose greatest capital is an overflowing passion and desire to improve every day, that translates into a close and familiar treatment to each person who comes to visit us and that transforms each visit into an experience. Normally people who visit our project end up feeling it deep inside.
What is your direct relationship with the world of wine? Do you have your own winery?
Yes, as I said, we are winegrowers and winemakers, we produce about 150,000 bottles of rosé and red wines within the D.O Cigales. We have been pioneers in making sweet or barrel-fermented rosés, in betting on organic wines or wine tourism. We live in the village at the foot of the vineyard and the relationship with wine could not be more direct.
What type of wine tourism experiences do you offer to the public?
We offer visits to wineries, apitourism (visits to apiaries), commented wine tastings…in our restaurant we have weekly paired menus and mixed tastings with cheese, beer or honey, we do tapas days and mushroom or hunting theme days. And almost anything you can think of.
What are your prospects for the coming years at Concejo Hospedería?
In Concejo we want to keep growing and we are currently renovating the winery with Naebu Reformas to turn it into a wine tourism center where you can visit, taste and enjoy at the foot of the vineyard, we hope it will be finished by summer of this year. It is going to be a beautiful place, we are waiting for you!
