January 1, 2022 by Cristina Moret
FAQs, Costa Brava, Runner Holidays
We’re NomaTrails, and for us, a run isn’t just about the miles. It’s about the stories, the people, and yeah, the good stuff we find along the way. If you’re looking for the best **wine running vacations**, you’ve landed in the right spot. Cristina and I, we’ve poured our hearts into crafting something truly special here. We’re talking about running through places where the history of wine is as deep as the trails we tread.
Costa Brava is the place to be if you enjoy wine and running.
The wine adventure in Spain
We’ve been running the Costa Brava for years, twelve years now, taking folks from all over the world through these beautiful hills. We use our legs, our lungs, our hearts, just like our ancestors did. It’s not about being slim or just getting fit; it’s about pure exploration. And here, in Empordà, that means running straight into the heart of wine country. Imagine finishing a long run, dust on your shoes, sweat on your brow, and then sitting down to a glass of something that’s been made right there, on the very land you just ran over. That’s what we do.
This region, the Costa Brava, it’s where wine culture really kicked off for us back in the 6th century BC. The Greeks, they set up Emporiare, and that’s where L’Empordà was born. We’ve got old maps, old stories, showing wine trade happening even then. It’s wild to think about. When you join us for a seven-day trip, especially on our **wine running vacations**, you’ll see this history firsthand.
Vineyards were planted near abbeys and monasteries throughout the medieval ages.
You will be able to see this in the remaining three days of our running tour.
We run past abbeys and monasteries where vineyards have been planted for centuries. We’ll show you where generations have worked the land, perfecting these wines. The Empordà-Costa Brava Designation of Origin, that official stamp, only came in 1975. But the passion? That’s been here forever. These wineries, they’re still going strong, still sending their bottles to fifty countries. Some of those vines, man, they’re over a century and a half old. We run right by them.
We often talk about the soul of NomaTrails. It’s about deep relationships with places. This isn’t some fake, commercial thing. It’s my grandma’s village, the school my kids went to. It’s real. And when we talk about wine, we’re talking about that same kind of deep connection. This blend of history, culture, and running is what makes our **wine running vacations** so special. So, let me tell you about something even older, something that goes to the very core of Catalonia’s wine story, just a little north of us, in Roussillon.
Beyond the Vine: Catalonia’s Alchemical Wine Legacy on Our **Wine Running Vacations**
This part of Catalonia, the Roussillon region, it’s a place of patience. We’re not about fast anything here, especially not fast wine. This isn’t just about farming grapes. It’s about a legacy, “wines of patience,” that laugh in the face of our always-on world. When I hold a glass of one of their fortified wines, it feels like I’m holding a 13th-century secret. The soul of these wines wasn’t born in some fancy vineyard. It was born in an alchemist’s lab.
The Alchemist Who Froze Time: Mutage and Our **Wine Running Vacations**
Back in the 13th century, there was this Catalan doctor and alchemist, Arnaud de Villeneuve. Wine was delicate back then, always turning to vinegar. Arnaud, he did something crazy. He tried to “arrest” the wine’s life cycle. He added a wine-based spirit, pure alcohol really, to the fermenting grape juice. You can read more about his work here.
We call it mutage now. It was pure genius. He killed the yeast before it could eat all the sugar. It “froze” the wine, making it sweet and stable. “The fermentation stopped, the grape’s natural sugar was preserved, and the wine became sweet, stable, and rich in unprecedented aromas.” That’s what they say. And it changed everything. Wine went from a seasonal drink to something that could age for centuries. Arnaud de Villeneuve’s name, it’s still tied to these “naturally sweet wines” (Vins Doux Naturels) that define this part of the world. Imagine running through these hills, knowing this history. It changes how you taste that glass later.
Two Families of Fortification: Aerial versus Oxidative
This mutage thing, it’s not just one path. It’s a choice. When the winemaker adds that spirit, it decides what kind of wine you’re going to get. It’s a contrast, almost a conversation, between the aerial and the oxidative.
- Mutage on Must (The Amber Whites): They add the spirit to the clear juice after the skins are out. This makes those radiant “Amber” or Muscat wines, like Muscat de Rivesaltes. These are the “Aerial” wines. Fresh, round, you get honey, citrus, dried fruit, even orange peel. They practically sing.
- Mutage on Skins (The Oxidative Reds): Here, the alcohol goes in while the juice is still soaking with the skins. This is where the big reds come from, the storied Maury and Banyuls. These wines are “fleshy and sun-drenched.” They sit in barrels, sometimes glass jars, for ages. The complexity is deep. Figs, cocoa, prune, walnut. These are wines that demand your attention after a long day on the trails. Learn more about Roussillon wines here.
The Powerhouse of the Patchwork: Grenache Blanc and Macabeu
The Roussillon, it’s a crazy “patchwork of soils.” Wind, schist, sun, all mixed up. It supports twenty-three different grape varieties. Most people think red here, but man, it’s a white grape powerhouse. A third of all France’s Grenache Blanc? It’s grown right here. In these soils, it makes rich, fleshy wines. Licorice, floral notes, a finish that just keeps going.
And there are others:
- Macabeu: We call it Macabeu. It makes light, delicate wines. White flowers, yellow fruits. Just lovely.
- Muscat d’Alexandrie: This one’s got history, probably from ancient Egypt. Big, firm grapes. When they’re perfectly ripe, they give you white and yellow fruit notes in the blends.
This wealth of grapes, it peaks in the rancios. These are “wines of meditation.” They age out in the open air, getting this dry, patinated character. Curry, hazelnut, old wood. These are the ones you sit with, quietly, after a hard run, letting the day sink in.
Eight Centuries of Ritual: The Markets of Prades
If you want to understand “Slow Food,” you have to come to the Tuesday market in Prades. This isn’t just for tourists. This is a ritual, going back to the Middle Ages. Eight hundred years, man. Artisans from the Conflent valleys, they’ve been coming down from the mountains to trade their stuff.
It’s not some museum piece. It’s alive. It’s where the wines of the Conflent meet the food: local Catalan charcuterie, mountain honey, fresh produce. It’s a bridge to a time when bétail (livestock) and grain were currency. After eight centuries, the Catalan “art of living” is still real here. We sometimes run past these old tracks, imagining the footsteps of those who came before us.
Ollada: The “Well-Porked” Soul of the Catalan Kitchen
You can’t talk Roussillon without talking Ollada. Or Ouillade. This thick, savory stew, it’s the heart of the kitchen here. Not some thin soup. This is dense. “All mixed,” they say. Pork, cabbage, beans, turnips, potatoes, enriched with sagi – a kind of lard.
They even have a saying: “l’ollada, ben porquejada” (“the pot and well pork”). In the Vallespir region, they sometimes throw in barley. This “well-porked” masterpiece, it’s perfect with a powerful Maury or a quiet Rancio. The weight of the pork, the earth of the vegetables, it needs a wine with that “alchemical patience” to stand with it. It makes you slow down. It makes you taste the history of the Catalan kitchen.
The wineries haven’t slowed down and they’re still expanding.
As a result, the Costa Brava running adventures we offer, will allow you to learn about all of these wines every night at dinner time. Cheers!
These wines and foods of the Roussillon, they are the “last wines of patience.” They come from a philosophy where time is an ingredient, from Arnaud de Villeneuve’s labs in the 13th century to the cellars today. In our crazy fast world, these flavors, they offer something different. They carry a Mediterranean wisdom: sun, soil, stillness.
What could we learn from these 13th-century winemakers? Maybe the greatest sweetness, the real depth, it only comes when we stop rushing. When we let the magic of time, and a little bit of sweat on the trails, do its work. That’s what our **wine running vacations** are all about. Check out our Running Adventures Calendar to join us.
