One of the reasons we decided to spend a few days in Logroño, Spain was its location as a base for exploring the la Rioja wine region. On the advice of another guest at Hotel Calle Mayor where we were staying, we called José Camara with Rioja Tasting Travel to set up a tour. And what a wonderful tour he organized for us! The first part of the tour involved driving some of the back roads of Rioja to get a feel for the fantastic landscape that describes this ancient land. La Rioja certainly holds its own for scenic beauty when compared to the great wine regions of the world...
As the name implies, these ancient
guardaviñas served as guard posts to watch over the vineyards and provide shelter in bad weather...
José took us up to San Vicente de la Sonsierra castle and church for the amazing views, and to see these well-preserved 12th century structures. The views of la Rioja are stunning...
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| Medieval bridge over the Ebro River as seen from the church... |
Here are Chris and José, on the way up to San Vicente de la Sonsierra...
After San Vicente, José took us to the wine-centric town of Haro for wine tastings at three
bodegas (wine cellars) and to taste and tour at a fourth. The Rioja red wines are delicious, relatively inexpensive, and consistent from year to year. The architecture in the region is a fantastic blending of the old and new. Here are some pictures from our wine tastings in Haro...
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| The tasting room is shaped like a decanter... ! |
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| Loved this one... |
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| This old wooden booth was used in an early 1900s exhibition... |
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| An excellent tasting... |
We had an excellent tour as well as a tasting at Gomez Cruzado...
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| Great barrel room... |
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| Our tour leader... |
Many of the bodegas in Rioja are grouped near the train station, and the train played an important part in the development of Rioja as a wine region. The train also was used to transport grapes and wine to the Bordeaux region of France in the late 1800s, when the phylloxera disease decimated French vineyards.
The Haro tour and tastings were great, but José had one more stop for us... the winery of Marques de Riscal, with its Frank Gehry designed hotel. There are many opinions about whether this building is appropriate for the setting, and our opinions were mixed, but we agreed that it is "daring"...
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| The wine was delicious... |
What a fun day exploring the history, landscape, and wines of la Rioja. José did a great job of putting together a program touching on all aspects of it. José, to you we say
Salud !!
Click on or touch any photo to enlarge...
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