spaswinefood: In Search of Barcelona's best wine bar

I love the fact that our Spaswinefood travels often leads us to exciting places. When our February wine travels took us to Barcelona I took advantage of this opportunity to search for the best wine bar. I do admit it does take some serious work to find Barcelona’s best wine bar. Nevertheless, during our stopover I set out to do just that. First, I came up with a long list of potential places. I did manage to visit a few on the list. Here's what I discovered.

Cellarer Wine Bar, Barcelona © Spaswinefood

I get it that most visitors to Barcelona do touristy stuff. Believe me, there are lots of top sites to visit in this beautiful city, which is an internationally renown tourist destination. For this Spaswinefood enthusiast however, the typical touristy site seeing is not a priority.

Barcelona Cathedral © Spaswinefood

I must admit that Barcelona is a city with great architecture and museums. I did admire Barcelona's amazing backdrops while checking out its wine bars. On our way to Bar Brutal Wine Bar we passed the stunning Barcelona Cathedral. Later we would visit the nearby Picasso Museum however, when you are on a wine mission everything else is not a priority.

Bar Brutal
The first wine bar we visited was Can Cisa at Bar Brutal. Bar Brutal is known for its tasty tapas and natural wines, with the majority of the wines being biodynamic and organic.

Can Cisa Bar Brutal, Barcelona © Spaswinefood

The front entrance leads you into a wine shop and Can Cisa Wine Bar. There is also a restaurant at the back.

Bar Brutal, Barcelona © Spaswinefood

We began with wines from DO Montsant and DOQ Priorat.

1. Joan D'Anguera, Planella DO Montsant 2015
2. Terroir Al Límit Soc. Lda.,Vi de Vil de Torroja DOQ Priorat 2016

Planella DO Montsant 2015, and Vi de Vil de Torroja DOQ Priorat 2016 © Spaswinefood

After tasting these two awesome wines we decided on a DO Conca de Barberá wine to go with our tapas.

Coll de Sabater, DO Conca de Barberá 2011

Coll de Sabater, DO Conca de Barberá 2011 © Spaswinefood

Given we arrived too late for lunch so we ordered some cheese.

Cheese Plate © Spaswinefood

Since it was between lunch and dinner menus they offered us the following tapas plates.

Afternoon Plate © Spaswinefood

Veggie Version of Afternoon Plate © Spaswinefood

We enjoyed the tapas and the wines.

Remembering Bar Brutal © Spaswinefood

After discovering these delightful wines we looked forward to exploring more Costa Daurada wines. I would highly recommend it for those wishing to explore Spanish biodynamic and organic wines.

Monvinic
Our hotel was just around the corner from Monvinic Wine Bar, which gets top reviews. It is located in a beautiful building. The wine bar offers an extensive digital list of wines from around the world.

Barcelona on a February Evening © Spaswinefood

When we visited Monvinic it was a rainy February evening. We were warmly received by the receptionist who greeted us, and pointed us towards the wine bar, next to the restaurant.

Monvinic, Barcelona © Spaswinefood

We decided to give the wine bar a try. Even though they offer an extensive list of international wines we were most interested in exploring Spanish wines.

Akilia Villa San Lorenzo, Bierzo 2015 © Spaswinefood

Our decision was to explore a Mencía wine from Bierzo DO.

Akilia Villa San Lorenzo © Spaswinefood

We also tasted some familiar Spanish wines.

Monvinic Wine Bar in Red and White © Spaswinefood

La Charla Verdejo Rueda DO, Tronat Emporda DO 2015 © Spaswinefood

Being a fan of Rueda DO Verdejo we ordered it, and an Emporda DO Tronat (a Merlot, Granache, and Sarah blend). We did order some tapas to accompany these wines.

A Tapas Affair, Monvinic © Spaswinefood

We also ordered fried artichokes.

Artichoke Tapas, Monvinic © Spaswinefood

I have read that their restaurant is quite good. We did plan to return for dinner, but ran out of time. They also offer lunch specials, which also sound exciting to me.

Lunch Menus, Monvinic © Spaswinefood

Obviously, I need to return to Monvinic to checkout their restaurant.

Wine Board, Monvinic © Spaswinefood

Cellarer Wine Bar
Our last day in Barcelona we met a #winelover friend at Cellarer Wine Bar. Earlier that day we visited their wine shop by the same name. Actually, this wine bar was not on the lists I researched however, when I looked online for a wine shop nearby I discovered it.

Cellarer Wine Bar, Carrier de Mallorca © Spaswinefood

#Winelovers, Cellarer Wine Bar © Spaswinefood

Our Cellarer Wine Bar outing continued after our friend left for the opera.

Cellarer Wine Bar, Barcelona © Spaswinefood

A wine bar is often a great alternative to a restaurant when they offer small plates. We tried some of Cellarer's tapa offerings.

Time for Tapas, Cellarer Wine Bar © Spaswinefood

Let's take a closer look at the tapas.

Empanadas, Cellarer Wine Bar © Spaswinefood

Meat & Potato Tapas, Cellarer Wine Bar © Spaswinefood

Veggie Tapas, Cellarer Wine Bar © Spaswinefood

More Tapa Delights, Cellarer Wine Bar © Spaswinefood

Here are some of the wines we tasted during our visit.
Alabamar Albarino, Rias Baixas 2016

Alabamar Albarino, Rias Baixas 2016 © Spaswinefood

Torre de Uña Reserva Rioja 2012

Torre de Uña Reserva Rioja 2012 © Spaswinefood

Canals & Munné Gran Reserva Cava

Canals & Munné Gran Reserva Cava © Spaswinefood

There was one French wine included:
Jean-Luc Baldes, Clos Triguedina Chenin 2015

Canals & Munné Blanc de Blanc Penedés

The red wines included the following:
Vinyes Domènech, Furvus; and Ramon Andreu, Disset Garnatxa Negra

Our wine tasting at Cellarer was a perfect opportunity to sample from various the various wine regions of Spain, such as Rias Baixas, Rioja, and Penedés. Nevertheless, during this visit I was primarily interested in exploring wines from Costa Daurada.

Of course that February evening in Barcelona at the Cellarer Wine Bar was a hit for us.

Of the wine bars that I visited Cellarer would be my first choice overall. It provided the best opportunity for me to explore and discuss the wines. As I write this article I am not surprised to find that this wine bar is now on the lists of top wine bars, and is getting great reviews.

Zona D'Ombra
There are of course those places you put on your list to visit but it does not happen. We did stop by Zona D'Ombra to find out they are not open that day. Given it was on a rainy February day we quickly made alternative plans.

Research to be Continued
I was always on the look out for wine bars during our Barcelona walks. I did spot a few, such as Praktik Hotel Vinoteca. Indeed, I need to continue my wine bar research.

I would like to continue looking to find those extra special wine bars in Barcelona. I still remember finding such a place in Athens, Greece. A few years ago when I arrived in Athens for a #winelover gathering I just happen to connect with a facebook friend who owned a wine bar in Central Athens. That wine bar was Cinque. Some places are special because of the people. For Cinque it is not just because they are nice but also because they are knowledgeable about the wines and bring a special passion to serving wine at their wine bar. What I encountered on that initial #winelover outing, (Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2016) at the Cinque Wine Bar and Deli was not only great wines and food, but also amazing hospitality from the owners who are both knowledgeable and passionate about Greek wines.

I loved the discoveries we made during our Barcelona walks. Naturally, there are too many wine bars in Barcelona to explore during a 3-4 day visit. At the end of this article there are some links that I found helpful. Barcelona's wine bar scene was a great introduction to Spanish wine country for us. After leaving Barcelona we traveled onto Costa Daurada where we visited the DO Tarragona, DO Conca de Barberá, DO Montsant, and DOQ Priorat wine appellations. I invite you to join me in my explorations in Barcelona and elsewhere at Spaswinefood.

Sharon

February 2018
Barcelona, Spain