It perhaps sounds a bit more romantic than heading off for Tesco's or popping down the offy but the truth is that most of our local bodegas are a bit dreary and their general aspect is definitely agricultural industrial.Take our local bodega, Bodega Brotons, actually in the village of Culebrón. One of the brothers who owns it, Roberto, is usually around and he's very pleasant with us but the bit of the Bodega we go in is quite dark, smells a bit musty and simply has four or five bulk storage tanks and a bunch of industrial shelving for the bottled stuff.
There is usually a pyramid of wine in five litre plastic containers by each of the bulk tanks but if there isn't they will just fill a container through a rubber hose from the tank. Indeed you can save yourself 50 centimos from the price of 5 litres by taking your own conatiner; most of the locals use old water bottles of varying sizes. Five litres of Dormilon, with container, costs a staggering 5.35€. As you might imagine plastic bottles and rubber hoses all help to maintain the mystique of fine wine served in perfect conditions.
That said, most of our visitors really like the Culebrón Merlot and when we tell Spanish people where we live thir first comment is usually "good wine - very strong". Thanks to the demands of the US Military, you can check out what the bodega has on offer, and their English, at www.vinosculebron.com
Our bodega is a bit different to most of the others in that it produces olive oil and lots of people refer to it as an oil press rather than a winery. Within a radius of say five miles there are a couple of bodegas in Maña, the co-operative bodega in Pinoso, one out at Rodriguillo and one out towards Cañada del Trigo. There are lots more in every direction epecially out towards the wine town of Jumilla and of course the predominant scenery around here is vineyards.
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