MUSEO DEL VINO DE VALDEPEÑAS

The Valdepeñas Wine Museum is located in the centre of the La Mancha Region, in Ciudad Real. The wheelchair accessible new building gives an insight into the history and the cultural notions related to the drink.

La Mancha , the region where windmills are silhouetted against the sky, is best known as the setting for Miguel de Cervantes' classic, "El Quijote", but it's one of Spain 's largest wine producing area too.

In the heart of La Mancha, on the road that runs between Madrid and Andalusia, you will find Valdepeñas, a city known for several good quality wines with a Designation of Origin that are among the best values in Spain (the area covers some 30,000 hectares of vineyards cultivated by nearly 4,000 viticulturists in 10 towns). It is thought that the Cistercian monks brought the red wine grape to Valdepeñas from Burgundy.

The Valdepeñas Wine Museum is partly located in the old Leocadio Morales bodega (winery), history and tradition of the "Valdepeñas" Denomination of Origin is presented there and the evolution of cultural practices based on the grapevine and the elaboration of its famous products are showed.

The tour through the permanent collection deals with History, beginning with data from the Iberian archaeological site at "Cerro de las Cabezas" (located near the city) where grape seeds were found, Environment and Commercialisation. In the second room the importance of the Physical Environment to the peculiarities of the grapes is explained: climate, soil, varieties and techniques used in cultivation and the complex process of elaboration are some of the determining factors in the uniqueness of each Denomination of Origin. Climate at the central plateau is that of hot summers, cold winters and very low rainfall: circumstances that are said to be good for vines.
Commercialisation fills the third room, in which an exhibition provides explanations and data on the ageing time in American oak casks required to achieve "crianza", "reserva", and "gran reserva".

Main entrance to the modern building, where visitors are provided with information -both in English and Spanish-, is level. There's an adapted toilet and an accessible shop on the right. A scale-model of the museum is placed at the lobby and a short audio-visual explaining what visitors will find is shown there. The c offee-shop and the audiovisual room are located on the upper floor which is accessible by means of an elevator. Premises in this building are all accessible and barrier-free.
The four buildings housing the Museum are arranged on the sides of a courtyard with a one-piece stone parapet well, the unloading platform, scales, the winepress, the pit and "tinajas" (large earthenware jars shaped like amphoras formerly used to ferment wine). All these objects are displayed on the walls, but mind the floor, paved with "pedreta" (little uneven stones) in the porchs, which might be hard to walk/roll on (the central area in the courtyard is " albero " sand).
Those three accessible exhibition rooms mentioned above are located in the other "new" building (left hand side of the courtyard) and access to them is by a ramp.
The two old buildings, though being accessible inside and having wide doors,have door frames on the floor ( about 2 and 5 cm high) to step in as these are ancient wooden doors.

Guided tours for groups are available and should be booked in advance.

The Wine Festivals, celebrated during the first week in September , are an unbeatable opportunity to go to this town to where wine brought prosperity (some fine modernist mansions were built by wealthy " bodegueros" and special mention should be made of the Plaza de España Square, with its white and blue façades, and the Asunción Parish Church, a beautiful Renaissance building).

Museo del Vino de Valdepeñas
C/ Princesa, 39. Valdepeñas (Ciudad Real)
Tel: (+34) 926 32 11 11 - Fax: (+34) 926 31 13 01
cultura@valdepenas.es
www.valdepenas.es

Opening Schedule:
Winter: Tuesday to Saturday from 10.00 - 14.00 and from 17.00 - 19.00
Summer: Tuesday to Saturday from 10.30 - 14.00 and from 17.00 -20.30
Sundays: from 12.00 to 14.00

Admission fee: Free

Rebecca Arce

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