Cellorigo Rioja Spain

Cellorigo Spain

Saturday March 28, 2015

Cellorigo from the highway

Cathy coming down the sloped street

Very few times have I ever really chickened out when we were driving around the countryside.  I've driven on dirt roads with cliffs off to the side; Downtown in Rome; and driven the switchbacks in Positano Italy and the Amalfi Coast.  Today I chickened out and stopped as we approached the steepest inclines that we had seen paved.  From far away, they look so beautiful - stone houses up on a hill that must have fantastic views of several small rioja villages and hundreds of hectares of grapes.  However, what you don't notice are some of the roads that are washed out, where the tar is there, but the dirt underneath it has decided to join its ancestors down in the valley.   Parking seemed like a good option.  When hiking up the hillside, and I mean UP, is a good option.  Be ready to take some stops and breaks.

Cellorigo, Spain

We reached the small village and only saw a few people there.  One person stopped and talked to us while he was walking his dog.  He was from the old capital of the region - Victoria.  Others that live there are from Haro and smaller cities.  Only a few older people live there year round.  It must have been aweful there a few days ago when the snow was in town.  They too did have the bread delivery, but it came in the afternoon.  We saw one woman stock up on about a dozen loaves, so we figure the frequency isn't like the other towns.  

The church was locked, but it also dated back to the 11th century.  As we approached, you could see dozens of birds circling above us waiting for a slip and fall.  The bread truck's horn called out to the locals that it was feeding time.  Strangers walking around on the hillside was the horn for the carion eating birds drafting on the thermals from the rock cliffs as the sun was warming up.  At the top of the village and at the base of the rocks was a house for sale - you couldn't beat the views, but you'd have to stay at home if you ever wanted to have a party.  And your guests too.  

We went back down into Sajazarra and did our long walk there to get close to our goal for the day.  We had booked lunch at Asador Ochova and today was the day they had lamb.  We got there and they did have the Reserva Tempranillo from Bodega Castillo de Sajazarra.  The last time it was out and we ended up with a fine wine from Ponte de Eu made in town too.  The meal was all we anticipated.  Knowing the full course meal was 18 euros with an upcharge of 4 euros for the lamb, we asked to substitute the blood and rice sausage with some ham croquettas.  We really should have just skipped that course - there was so much lamb we couldn't finish it as hard as we tried.   The wine was perfectly paired and the smell of the smoke from the fire made for a cookout style family affair.

Asador Ochova Lamb Specialty

Indeed, in the short trip that we had made to the mountains, there were a bunch of families that had come from the cities around here to celebrate Easter Week.  Funny how the US is supposed to be such a religious country, yet when it comes to holidays they don't have anything like this.  People were out with their kids in the bar and around the town walking and playing.  A perfect small town for kids to run and bike, but not too big for parents to be worried.  

Walk just outside the castle wall to the vineyards.

We got back and spoke with some of the kids who were in our square.  The young girls were mad because a couple of boys were knocking on doors and then running away.  They were excited to know that we were from the States and immediately said "Hello" in English and practiced their lessons with us. 

We closed down the night by finishing off a half a bottle of our wine from Lerma that we bought in the pizza restaurant.  It was  a young fresh Riberio wine, that was like a Pinot Noir.  We went to bed waiting to see how Palm Sunday would be in the area.