Milan, 2 November 2026 – There is a time of year when travelling also means immersing yourself in the scents, colours and traditions of the land: the grape harvest season. And while Saint Martin’s Day on 11 November recalls the tradition of new wine and the transition towards winter, autumn is also an ideal time to set off and discover the places where wine is born, among vineyards, historic cellars, rural landscapes and harvest festivals. It is a way to get to know a destination through one of its most authentic expressions: wine culture.
To help travellers discover these traditions, Vueling, part of the IAG group, proposes an itinerary through some of the best-known wine tourism destinations in its network. From Catalonia, with Barcelona and the vineyards of Penedès and Priorat, to the Basque Country, the gateway to Rioja Alavesa, via Logroño in the heart of Rioja and Jerez de la Frontera, the capital of Sherry, with nearby Córdoba and the Montilla-Moriles area: a route through landscapes, grape varieties, traditions and celebrations revealing the soul of some of Spain’s most fascinating wine regions.
The scent of the grape harvest in Spain: from Jerez to the Basque Country and Catalonia
From Catalonia to the Basque Country, via La Rioja and Andalusia, the grape harvest season offers an opportunity to discover Spanish regions where wine is an integral part of the landscape, culture and gastronomy.
Barcelona is the ideal starting point for exploring Penedès, a hilly area southwest of the city, where vineyards, small villages and historic cellars alternate with modern buildings and landscapes dominated by nearby Montserrat mountain. Much of Catalonia’s signature sparkling wine, Cava, comes from here, produced mainly from native varieties such as Xarel·lo, Macabeo and Parellada. At the heart of this tradition lies Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, considered the capital of Cava, with its cellars and long underground galleries where bottles slowly mature. A little further away, Priorat offers a completely different setting: around two hours from Barcelona, among the hills of the Serra de Montsant, terraced vineyards climb steep slopes and produce mainly intense, structured reds based on Garnacha and Cariñena. Stone villages, ancient paths and the Cartoixa d’Escaladei, a medieval monastery set among the vineyards, complete an itinerary where nature, history and wine coexist. With Vueling, Barcelona can be reached from Italy from: Bologna (up to 7 weekly flights), Bari (up to 7), Cagliari (up to 7), Catania (up to 7), Rome Fiumicino (up to 40), Florence (up to 19), Genoa (up to 2), Milan Malpensa (up to 42), Naples (up to 21), Palermo (up to 9), Salerno (4 flights per week in November), Turin (up to 11) and Venice (up to 16).
From Bilbao, a lively city on the Nervión estuary in northern Spain, travellers can reach Rioja Alavesa, the part of Rioja that stretches across the Basque province of Álava between the River Ebro and the Sierra de Cantabria. Here, vineyards form an orderly landscape at the foot of the mountains, and the climate, influenced by the Atlantic but sheltered by the hills, favours the production of elegant, age-worthy wines dominated by Tempranillo. Laguardia, a medieval village surrounded by vines, is one of the area’s most representative centres: beneath its streets lies a network of ancient cellars carved into the rock, bearing witness to a centuries-old winemaking tradition. With Vueling, Bilbao can be reached from: Rome Fiumicino (up to 4 weekly flights), Milan Malpensa (up to 7), Naples (up to 3), Turin (up to 2) and Venice (up to 3).
Logroño, the capital of Rioja and a city crossed by the Ebro, is a natural gateway to the entire wine region. The surrounding area features gently rolling hills covered in vineyards and numerous villages and cellars that have made Rioja one of Spain’s best-known wine tourism destinations. Tempranillo is its signature grape, joined by Garnacha, Graciano and Mazuelo for reds and Viura for whites.
In the south of the country, Jerez de la Frontera, in the heart of the province of Cádiz, leads to the discovery of the Marco de Jerez, a landscape of vineyards and bodegas stretching between the Atlantic and inland Andalusia. This is the home of Sherry, a family of fortified wines including Fino, Amontillado and Oloroso, born from a unique combination of climate, chalky soils and lengthy ageing processes.
Finally, Córdoba is the gateway to Montilla-Moriles in inland Andalusia, where vineyard-covered hills and characteristic white, chalky soils provide the backdrop to a winemaking tradition closely linked to local gastronomy. Here, Pedro Ximénez is the leading grape, producing rich, intense sweet wines as well as dry versions and wines aged using traditional techniques. The harvest, which can begin as early as August in this part of Andalusia, offers an opportunity to discover a rural landscape away from the best-known circuits, among historic cellars, olive groves and small towns set in the countryside.
From Italy, Logroño and Rioja, Jerez de la Frontera and the province of Cádiz, as well as Córdoba and Montilla-Moriles, can be reached on connecting flights via Barcelona.
Sources and images: Vueling / DAG Communication press release. Complete editorial text in English translation; photographs supplied with the release.
