Rioja Bound

Sunday found us driving south to the Rioja Wine region about an hour south of Bilbao. While we are definitely oenophiles (winos), we were struck by the beyond scenic pastoral countryside–verdant being the operative word. In fact, we were somewhat limited in vocabulary, repeating “So verdant,” over and over.

Haro and Rioja Alavesa

Our first stop was the small village of Haro. Right off the highway, many wineries are clustered in one area. Muga, one of the most prestigious wineries and most expensive was closed on Sunday. Luckily, Roda, one of the newer wineries, was open. Most of the tastings in Rioja had a different system than what we were accustomed to . California wineries usually offer tasting of five different wines for $10 with this fee waived if you purchase a bottle. Rioja’s tastings were generally around 15-20 euros with no incentive to buy. More appealing were the reasonably priced glasses at 5 euros. We sipped and shared our copas de vino in the spooky candlelit room adjacent to the wine tunnel. We also sampled wines at Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia We left Haro moving on to the “verdant” countryside  of Alavesa, stopping at smaller wineries along the way such as Ostatu in Sanmaniego. Rioja has over 16,000 wineries, so discretion is advised. Our next destination was Marques de Riscal where the only hotel created by Frank Gehry stands perched on a hillside. Wavy, colorful and standing out like a creative sore thumb, we didn’t have time for a tour, so we postponed this for another journey. The winery has a well stocked gift store and restaurant and tastings.

Laguardia

Friends recommended we park a little past the city of Laguardia, a small medieval town, so we could elevator up the side of the cliff. Stepping out of the elevator, we were transported to a walled fortress at the peak of a rocky hilltop. Featuring narrow cobblestone walkways, ancient stone houses, and multiple bodegas with underground wine cellars, just walking around excited us. Definitely, worth an overnight stay, but we had at least an hour and a half drive back to our home in Gatika. On our way home, we were overtaken by a torrential down pouring of rain which forced us and everyone off the highway for 40 minutes (even Spanish drivers). Now the “verdant” countryside’s secret became clear. The rain in Spain falls mostly in the Rioja region thus making it more emerald than the emerald isle.