Sancho Panza is drinking wine in front of the windmills of La Mancha.
We can see this image during our Don Quixote Wine Tours to La Mancha
Spain is the country of thousands of wines. There are 70 denominations of origin in the whole country and several thousand wineries all over the place.
Wine has been in our culture for more than 2000 years ago.
Some wine purist people, when tasting wines, want to focus on the organoleptic characteristics of our wines. This is a criterion I respect but we do a different approach.
In our approach, we try to show our visitors not only our wines but also our history. Our history as our wines are very attractive.
Why should you read Don Quixote?
And one of the things we do is to follow Don Quixote and Sancho Panza while they go north and south in La Mancha.
We love the windmills of La Mancha. The windmills are as romantic as the story of Don Quixote.
We say in Spanish that to have a “Quijotesca” attitude means defending the weak against the strong or defending lost causes with a high risk of getting damaged. Our common sense is telling to fly from risks and to go with the flow.
What does Don Quixote represent in the book of Miguel de Cervantes?
- Don Quixote, with a slim complexion and lean face, as a symbol, represents the ordinary man in search of an ideal, of an invisible world and, despite the fact that the purpose of the trip remains unattainable, the idea of achieving it remains active until the end.
- He is someone that is going against the flow.
- We are told all the time that the wisest thing to do in our lives is to go with the flow, but we secretly admire those who go against the flow. And much more if they succeed. We admire people who fail, but who have the courage to try again in the hope that they will succeed next time.
- We say in Spanish that those people are having a “Quijotesca” attitude
- The windmills are part of our past. They are not necessary anymore with the apparition of the machine of power. Even though they stand proud like giants in the top of several hills of the immense plain of La Mancha.
What does Sancho Panza represent?
- Sancho is the representation of reality and the practical, accompanied by enormous popular and practical wisdom since in pressing moments, he advised Don Quixote through sayings while remaining faithful to him for the promise of receiving for his labors an Insula to govern.
- To see Sancho Panza drinking wine with a “bota” (typical way of drinking in the past on this country) is telling us that our tradition of making and drinking wine is for centuries. To see Sancho Panza drinking wine in the middle of La Mancha is a pleasure.
- In our case, we accompany Sancho with our own glass of wine. Because everything is better with a glass of wine in hand. Cheers, my friends!
- “Accept what life offers you and try to drink from every cup. All wines should be tasted; some should only be sipped, but with others, drink the whole bottle.” Paulo Coelho
Written by
By Ignacio Segovia
Ceo of Winebus.es
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