Reviews

My niece Christine and I took on Monday September 15. The class, comprised of 7 persons, was a delight from start to delicious finish and a super treat for my niece from the USA. Fernando´s great personality,professionalism and cooking skills captivated us all from the start. Even though I have resided in Spain since 1973 and have been cooking Spanish dishes for many years, I still managed to learn a lot in those few hours of the cooking class. My niece and I particularly liked the many expert chef´s tips offered by Fernando as we prepared our dishes.
The overall kitchen atmosphere for the course, the advance preparations, the cooking implements and the cleanliness were superb. Fernando did a great job of providing the explanations in Spanish and English, spoken slowly for the mixed national group we were (4 Brazilian, 1 American who spoke some Spanish, 1 American who spoke absolutely no Spanish, and me (bi-lingual). I had plenty of questions to ask and Fernando´s responses cleared a lot of doubts I had about some aspects of Spanish cooking.

I would like to add that I will highly recommend these wonderful courses to my circle of friends, Spanish and foreign. I shall always remember the camaraderie that developed as we all enjoyed our meal as demonstrated when we showed each other photos of our families and exchanged email addresses, etc.

A special “abrazo” for Fernando from me and Christine!

Muchas gracias por toda la atención durante y después de los tours. Todo fue perfecto. Nos encantaron las bodegas, los vinos, la comida, el paisaje, el clima, todo muy lindo. Las bodegas Ismael Arroyo – Valsotillo y Más que Vinos – Ercavio son fantásticas así como sus vinos.

Una vez más gracias por todo y, por favor, agradece a Sonia y Jaime por toda la ayuda con el viaje.

I can honestly say that I have nothing but good to say about the wine tour! I had a fantastic time and learned so much about the wine making history in Spain. Getting such a behind the scenes and personal tour of the wineries was a wonderful experience. My guide was incredibly knowledgeable as well. After hearing about my experience on the wine tour I had friends that are visiting Madrid this week that took the tour on Tuesday. ​I was extremely impressed that my allergies concerns were accomodated at the lunch at the end of the tour with no problems whatsoever – and with my severe allergies it was extremely appreciated that care was taken in that respect. If I ever get back to Madrid I will be trying out some of your other tours and would recommend you to anyone visiting Madrid. Thank you for a memorable and fun tour!

Hi there
Both Elaine and I would like to say what a wonderful time we had on Tuesdays wine tasting day. We were impressed about Ismaels knowledged of winemaking and his personnal connections with the wine producers. The lunchon after the three winneries was fantastic. Although I didn´t eat the set tourist menu. There was no problem in ordering another meal to my liking. Although Elaine had the set meal and loved it. Nothing was too much trouble.
The stop off to the other points of beauty was also a bonous and unexpected. Ismael made the group come together and by the end we were all good friend. A wonderful day was had by all. I would definitely recomend your company especially Ismael to friend and family that are visiting Madrid. It is a must for novices and experience wine connoisseurs alike.
On a personnal note from both Elaine and I. Thank you so mush Ismael for a wonderful day. You will be remembered for adding such pleasure to both our 50th birthdays.

La Clase: Bien preparada y gestionada por la Chef. Entre bromas y risas, creo que hemos conseguidos que más de uno se haga cocinilla.
Los Vinos: Grandes desconocidos, pero grandes vinazos. Por favor, hacernos llegar los nombres, tanto del blanco como del tinto. Excelentes.
La Comida: A pesar de que fuimos a no complicarnos mucho, fue lo suficientemente elaborada para que se vieran nuestras maneras. Comida y resultado fueron estupendos.
En resumen, pasamos un rato muy agradable que todavía alguno está recordando y otros están practicando.

Pues la cena maridaje vino vs cerveza fue un regalo de Navidad para mi suegra, que le gusta mucho la cerveza, y mi novio, también cervecero, fue con ella. Se lo pasaron genial, Les pareció interesante, muy divertido, y según mi suegra, que es psicoanalista, había muy buen ambiente en la cena porque los sumilleres creaban buen ambiente y que eso se transmite.

La cena de maridaje vino Vs cerveza fue genial. No pudimos pasarlo mejor y sinceramente no se me ocurre la forma de mejorarlo. El hecho de estar sentados todos juntos al principio echa un poco para atrás pero enseguida se convierte en un acierto.

I would like to let you know that my husband and I had a wonderful time on the tour. Jaime was a great guide, and very informative. I have no complaints about the experience. It really was my favorite part of our trip and it felt like a once and a life time experience

I wanted to let you know how much our group enjoyed your tour – I think it was the highlight of the trip! Each member of the group told me how absolutely wonderful and knowledgeable the tour guide was and what a fantastic time they had – in fact, people are still talking about it!! You have a wonderful operation and I thank all of you for being SO kind and wonderful to work with!
As for any dislikes – I didn’t hear any!! Quite the opposite! J
Thank you again – we will most definitely be repeat customers!!

I really think the winery tour was the highlight. It was so interesting for me to see the differences to Oregon and Washington. I think just having the personal touch of meeting the owners and winemakers was my favorite. Seeing how they do it and hearing it straight from them. Also enjoyed the scenery and the great lunch to try some of the local flavor.

There are many tour operators in Madrid to choose from. A good number of them offer private tours only, making it an expensive adventure. My husband and I wanted an affordable tour that is of a high quality. Look no further! Gourmet Madrid is your choice for group tours that give you a great experience.

Jim and I are still talking about how much we enjoyed the wine tour with you in March. I loved it all, but my favorite parts were probably meeting the vintners, sampling and learning about each of the wines, eating such delicious food for lunch in town, and just getting the opportunity to visit and learn about an area of the Community of Madrid that I would not have known about otherwise. Also enjoyable were touring the wineries and hearing a bit about their history, as well as the trip out to see the surrounding landscape and Chinchón.

Both the tapas tour and the cooking class were fantastic and very enjoyable. We had a great time and will highly recommend our experiences!

As for my dislikes…none. My likes…everything. I was especially impressed with your knowledge of the wines and the way you paid attention to what we may possibly like so that you could make recommendations for us during the tour and going forward. I appreciated the personal attention. It was also great to have met your girlfriend. She was very friendly as well!! I also realize that I do not like tripe. Thanks for suggesting that I try it though. It was an adventure. Thanks for everything.

We had a marvelous time. Katie and I both thought the lunch at the restaurant was one of the best meals that we had on our entire trip. We thoroughly enjoyed the wineries, and your knowledge about them and the local history made for a very good experience for us. For us, it couldn’t have been better, although one thing – we still don’t really know if a crianza has to be aged 12 months in oak or if it could be 6 months in oak and then aged another 12 months? (please do not take this comment seriously, it is intended as humor).

I would definitely rate it a 10. We had a great time. It was about midnight when we got back to the hotel, and we had no idea that much time had flown by on the tour. ( I won’t put that in the review, because you only promised a two hour tour!) Jaime did a great job, and it worked out well having the tour early in our visit, so we could take advantage of Jaime’s recommendations for the rest of the trip.

Nani was AWESOME, a definite 10. Very knowledgeable, fun and friendly. We truly enjoyed the wine and tapas except for the “boquerones” I will definitely recommend your agency to my family and friends

We had an excellent time. Jaime was an excellent guide with a wealth of knowledge on history, cuisine, wine and touring. We could not have had a better day. Your scheduling and e-mail correspondences were great, we appreciated your service, flexibility, and willingness to find something that would work with our schedule and within our budget. Thanks for adding to our Madrid experience in a very positive way!