Do the mass and the bodega go together? In Spain the answer is, “yes.”

Mass in the massive Seville Cathedral with soaring pipe organ notes echoing through the vaulted ceilings and Spanish chant plaintively repeating the liturgical verses competed with incense wafting upwards in billowing clouds of smoke before a pure gold and silver altar to bring new sensory heights.

I’ve been to Bodega Bay of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Birds” fame in California and now I’ve been to a bodega in Jerez, Spain. Both have much to offer, but if you must choose one, go for the Jerez bodega. Jerez is the sherry wine capital of the world due to the chalky soil that feeds the local grapes and gives sherry, both dry and sweet, its distinctive taste. The Gonzalez-Byess Bodega is the largest winery and is located in the old town. Its wine barrels are signed by the famous of this world who have visited. I did not have time to stay and sign my barrel. It was a very informative tour amidst ancient casks, each barrel has 70 years of harvests within, and there are thousands of barrels in rooms kept chilled by special sand that retains cold water to cool the vast chambers.

So in one day Mass in Seville and bodega in Jerez about an hour apart in distance but worlds apart in experience.