La Rioja
Wines and architecture at its best
La Rioja is the province and autonomous community famous for its spectacular wine route. Located in northern Spain, its wineries stand out both for their history and architecture and, of course, the wonders they produce.
From the Basque Country, we planned an itinerary to visit the most relevant ones, while discovering the meandering landscapes marked by the meandering Ebro River.
We took an early bus from the Intermodal Bilbao that left us, in little more than an hour, at the small station of Haro.
There we were met by the attentive Jesús, who guided us on our tour.
He was in charge of taking us from one place to another, in our attempt to achieve the ambitious itinerary that the enormous Rodrigo Ravera, the expert who knows the region like few others and knows how to put together the best route for each client, had put together for us.
We started in Haro's Estación neighborhood, where several traditional wineries are located.
It was the town's holiday, so many of them were closed. But that did not complicate our tour, because the ones we wanted to visit were open and, in the case of the others, it was a great opportunity to discover their architecture without further explanation.
Keep in mind that almost all of them have an entrance ticket for visits.
We went through Cvne, Bilbaínas, until we reached the majestic López de Heredia - Viña Tondonia. Its wine bar, a modernist outdoor installation, was designed by Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid integrating tradition and modernity. Just across the street, other historic names in Haro also stand out: the Gómez Cruzado and La Rioja Alta wineries. In Muga, the locomotive that transported the oak vats to Bordeaux is still preserved. In the adjoining traffic junction is the monument to the Grape Harvest.
From there, Jesús took us to the town of Ollauri, south of Haro, to surprise us with the design of Bodega Beronia, which blends in with the surrounding vineyards. The construction is hidden in the slope of the plot.
We continued on to Conde de los Andes, which turned out to be @tripticity_’s favorite. Its wine is sublime and its subway cellars of more than a kilometer are spectacular. The guided tour is expensive, but it is amazing to walk through those subway passages, strolling through centuries of history of the wine world until you reach the Sacristy, where hundreds of vintages are stored, including bottles of mythical vintages such as 1892, 1918, 1948 or 1964. Ernest Hemingway and the bullfighter Antonio Ordóñez toasted in this privileged sector, as is shown in the photograph that is the pride of the winery.
It was founded by Federico Paternina in 1896, where his ancestors had been making wine since the 15th century.
The tour after this magical visit ends with a tasting of their wines at the height of the winery, with the unsurpassed Huelva ham and chocolate truffles.
Then we head to the Balcón de La Rioja, on the border between the Basque Country and La Rioja, for the best panoramic view of the whole fertile valley region.
Around noon we arrived in Laguardia. Jesus left us at one of the entrance gates of the medieval village, the Puerta de las Carnicerías or Puerta Nueva, on the other side of the Ebro, so it already belongs to the autonomous community of the Basque Country, but is part of the area known as the Rioja Alavesa.
Located high up, it has a typical medieval wall.
There it was a matter of getting lost in its narrow streets and being surprised by its beautiful architecture. We passed by the church of Santa María de los Reyes from the XIV century, then by the church of San Juan. We also walked through the old Jewish quarter in the lower part of town, through the main square, with its beautiful town hall, until we reached the restaurant Biazteri 1974, where we enjoyed some memorable pintxos of cod with peppers and mushrooms with octopus.
There were still two more great visits on that glorious day.
First to Javier San Pedro Ortega, the cool winery, strategically located in front of Ysios winery, so it was the perfect combination of extraordinary view of the Sierra de Cantabria and the avant-garde architecture next door enjoying an excellent rosé. Its wine bar is almost a pub, modern, fun, as much as the name of the labels Viuda Negra or Cueva de Lobos.
Located across the street, Ysios has a fabulous silhouette designed by the renowned Santiago Calatrava, with volumes that evoke a movement of its roof. Its name is a tribute to the Egyptian gods Isis and Osiris.
After this exquisite stop we headed to Marqués del Riscal, the most iconic winery for its hotel designed by Frank Gehry. The visit was very massive and mechanical. We left with the feeling that the wine has the best marketing in the universe, as they know how to exploit the beauty of Ghery's design in this century-old winery which is ultimately what the visitor takes away.
The tasting is super express, uncomfortable and not very personalized, inattentive, and most incomprehensible, before the tour we were warned that videos were not allowed because "other visitors had previously recorded this tour from beginning to end". Something unbecoming of a top global winery. How we longed for the exclusive visit to Conde de los Andes hours before.
However, it is really worth paying the entrance ticket for the enjoyment generated by the work of the master Gehry.
It was getting late in the afternoon so Javier drove us to Logroño, where we would spend the night to take the bus to Zaragoza the next day.
We stayed at the Mercure Carlton Rioja, with its nineties deco but with the best location, close to everything, on Gran Via Juan Carlos I.
That night we were still waiting for a memorable meeting of Mr. @tripticity_ with cousin Joselu, first, and then a tapas outing with great friends from Salta, Rodrigo Ravera, Maru and her "pigs" Gabriel and Lucas. It was Maru's 46th birthday, so the tour of La Laurel, the lively circuit of bars where the best Spanish wines and the famous pinchos await, was a celebration in itself. The whole area of Logroño's old town is made up of narrow streets, lined with taverns and historic buildings.
Our journey, guided by Rodrigo, began at Juan y Pinchame with its pineapple and prawn skewers; then La Anjana with the brutal sirloin and Roquefort combo and finally a variety at Pata Negra. Then we went to walk through the part of the city where the Camino de Santiago crosses, we passed by the church of Santiago el Real and reached the Puente de Hierro (Iron Bridge).
We finished with ice cream from dellaSera while we continued celebrating the coincidence. It was an unforgettable day with the best wines, the ones you drink with friends!