We tried Bodega Selección in El Campello. Here's what we thought

There aren't many places around Alicante where the wine is the whole point. Bodega Selección in El Campello is one of them. If you've been meaning to get out of the city for an evening, this is a decent excuse.

What it's actually like

The short version: it feels like drinking in a friend's cellar. Exposed brick, walls lined with bottles picked from all over Spain, and a room built for sitting still with a glass rather than shouting over music. It leans traditional Spanish wine culture, but with a modern touch rather than a museum feel.

That cosiness cuts both ways. A small cellar-style room is great for two people and fine for four. It's not the place to bring a table of ten on a Saturday night, and if you want a big loud dinner, you'll be happier elsewhere.

What the numbers say

On Google it sits at 4.5 from 125 reviews. That's a proper sample, not three mates of the owner. For a small bodega in a town the size of El Campello, holding 4.5 across that many opinions is the strongest signal you'll get without going yourself.

How it compares

Here's an honest caveat: the closest things to it in our directory are an hour down the coast in Torrevieja. That tells you something in itself. Quiet, characterful places to sit with a drink are thin on the ground along this stretch, which is partly why this one stands out.

• Bibliotekcafé in Torrevieja is a café built around a library. Books in several languages line the walls, many donated by customers, and there's no television. Same calm, sit-and-stay energy, but it's a daytime coffee place rather than an evening wine one.
• Casa Del Mar, also in Torrevieja, is intimate and seaside-feeling, away from the busier restaurant strips. It shows 5.0 on Google, but that's from just 3 reviews, so treat it as promising rather than proven.

If you only make one of these trips, make it Bodega Selección. It has real numbers behind it, and El Campello is a much shorter run from Alicante than Torrevieja is.

Who it's for, who it's not

Go if you like wine enough to make it the plan, not the accompaniment. Go if you want somewhere calm enough to actually talk. Skip it if you're after a full restaurant night out - for that in Alicante proper, we'd point you at Nou Manolín or Restaurante Fondillón instead.

One practical note: the tram from Alicante runs out to El Campello, so nobody in your group has to stay sober to drive back.

Pick an evening, get the tram out, and ask whoever's pouring to choose your first glass.