To talk about wine in the Penedès is to talk about the identity of an entire region. This symbiosis between history, culture and territory is reflected in the
Museum of Wine Cultures of Catalonia (VINSEUM) in Vilafranca del Penedès,
the first wine museum in Spain.
VINSEUM was created in 2007 as a space for visitors to experience the culture of wine. It is the conceptual evolution of the
Museum of Vilafranca – Wine Museum, which was founded in 1935 to house various collections related to the Penedès. The collection has already exceeded 17,000 items which cover subjects such as archaeology, art (with an important collection of ceramics), ethnology and natural history.
But what has made the Museum into a benchmark is the
collection related to viticulture: tools of the field, amphorae, ceramic pitchers, cups made of tin and silver, pieces of glassware from Bohemia, etc. Notable are
the wine dioramas that narrate the history of viticulture. Thus, you can see scenes from the wineries of Egypt and Rome or the
Monastery of Poblet. In addition to the objects, VINSEUM also has an important documentary collection on vines and wine.
The tour of the permanent exhibition begins on the third floor of the main building, a former royal palace of the Kings of Aragon (12th-13th century). A careful and modern museum display draws the visitor into an immersive tour through the various collections. It even has a multi-sensory module known as the "La Mirada Tàctil" or the Tactile View. The tour ends in the
Museum’s Tavern, where you can taste wine or cava.