España: Day 93 FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS 🍾👑🍷🎂🍇🎉

Day 93:
Today is Friday, 7 October 2016 which means it is OUR Birthday!!!! Happy Birthday, Feliz Cumpleaños to my birthday twin and soul sister Gabby!

Birthday ladies ready for our day, October 7th!!!

We have an early morning appointment at a winery (without Coco)...by early morning, I mean like 11am. I contacted Marqués de Murrieta on a couple of occasions (all via email) to make reservations but they only responded to me when I wrote to them in Español. I read some reviews on Trip Advisor about this so I am not too surprised. I did have to make the reservation for a Spanish tour so it should be quite interesting. I figured with Scott's knowledge from his Español studies and Gabby's Latin roots (she understands almost 💯% of what people are saying in Spanish), we could get by on this 2 hour 30 minute tour...
I picked this place because at a wine shop back in El Campello, there was a bottle from this winery that was from my birth year, 1985. It was too expensive to buy at the shop so I was hoping they have it at the winery. At this bodega visit, there were about a dozen of us again and everyone spoke Español since it was the spanish speaking tour. Before we started the tour, we were told to take off our Birthday hats 😑
The grounds of Marqués de Murrieta are beautiful. There is a lot of history with this winery and we learned all about it....in Español. My favorite part was at the end of the tour, we all had place settings at a round table overlooking the vats. This is where we talked about and tried 3 different wines. I loved how personalized this visit was. Not only did we have personalized place settings, we got a folder with all kinds of information on the wines and the Vineyard. At one point the woman conducting the tour asked the group a question and looked at me to which I replied, "si!" Everyone just laughed and I looked at Scott and Gabby for help...My cover was blown, they all knew I do not speak much Spanish! It was a great time with very good wines and to top it off, at the very end in the shop, we saw the bitchy woman from yesterday and could not stop laughing when we overheard her say, "this is the closest I'll ever get to owning Hermès " as she bought an orange moleskin. This is coming from a woman carrying a rare red Chanel bag that cost at least $4,000.

Marqués de Murrieta

Beautiful fall colors climb the walls at Marqués de Murrieta

Let the tour begin!!!

Finca Ygay

Grape vines at Marqués de Murrieta 

The beholder of the grapes!

Tempranillo grapes on their way to be processed for months or years

Marqués de Murrieta Vineyards

Having a try of the Tempranillo grapes 

Crowns are cool

This machine, probably used back in 1852, sorts through the grapes

Our table at Marqués de Murrieta

Vats at Marqués de Murrieta

Storage room for limited release bottles

Limited edition for 150th anniversary 

Vintage bottles at Marqués de Murrieta 

If you look closely you can see "fur" on the bottles 

The label that triggered my curiosity...from 1985

Birthday ladies at Marqués de Murrieta!

Handcrafted storage box for the Castillo Ygay bottle

Wines tasted from L to R: Pazo Barrantes 2015 (Albariño grapes), Marqués de Murrieta Reserva 2011 (Tempranillo, Mazuelo, Graciano and Garnacha grapes) and Marqués de Murrieta Gran Reserva 2009 (same grape combo as Reserva)

Gabby and me at Marqués de Murrieta

Had to

We had our Birthday lunch at Tondeluna in Logroño but I also had a facetime date with my parents so they can see my face on my birthday 😆 The facetime was not working properly, they could only hear me but I could not hear them. Also at this time a street sweeper decided it needed to clean the sidewalks right in front of me. It was actually getting humorous so we made the most of the situation and then my Albondiga (meatball) was getting cold so I had to call it quits.

Outdoor seating at Tondeluna and having the discussion of, do we want to do all tapas and share or do we get our own entrees?

Albondigas at Tondeluna (ginger and sesame glaze)

Costillas de cerdo at Tondeluna (BBQ pork ribs with honey and romesco sauce)

La Merluza a la Romana Confitada (Hake confit with peppers and rice puree)

Solomillo a la Pimienta (sirloin with potatoes)

After lunch we walked over to the tapas street, Calle del Laurel, to have some drinks and get groceries to make our birthday dinner! There is a large market, fruit/veggie stands and a grocery store all in that general area. We had a drink (or two) at La Tavina. We tried the Muga Rosé for the first time and none of us really cared for it so I have made a mental note to self! This place was a lot of fun to hang out at. We got a spot at the outside counter and enjoyed our time with Coco in tow. Maybe because it was our Birthday or just the fact that we were enjoying life, people came over and talked to us....two men from España wanted to take photos with us and then 2 guys from Mexico chatted with us for a bit. 

Nice Spaniards want to take photos with Birthday twins!

I'll blow out your birthday candles....

....and you blow out my birthday candles!

Garlic strands!

Preparing for our birthday dinner!

Scott actually did all the cooking for us...I just assisted by getting the proper pots

They did not have my birth year at Marqués de Murrieta but we got the 2007 Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial, which is the same line as the 1985.

Birthday dinner ready! Fusilli pasta, pimientos pequeños and skewers

Scott surprised us with balloons!

After dinner Scott decided to try and clean some of his clothes however things got a little silly....no bubbles were being produced so he poured almost half the bottle of detergent in the machine and then we couldn't figure out why it stopped working....these European machines! Gabby came to the rescue and got it going but then the machine was spinning out of control and making some loud noises so we felt we needed to defend ourselves....

The machine sounds like it might expload!

Ok, we get a little weird but that is why we have so much fun and it is what I love about Scott and Gabby!

I had one of the best birthdays ever and I just have to thank Scott for everything he did to make it happen. The reason for the choice of going to Rioja for my birthday was because I read that the tempranillo grape clusters are at their best and therefore harvested during the first week of October (typically). The site of it all was so beautiful.

I am also grateful that I met my friend, Gabby, over a year ago and learned we have the same birthdays. Before Scott and I left the States, I told Gabby that she must come celebrate our birthday in España together and I and so happy that she did. It was such a memorable birthday sharing it with my soul sister so many thanks and much peace, love and happiness to you Gabby ✌❤💛💚😆