Weekend in Rioja

[AlexR]

Rioja's just a 4 hour drive from my house and it's really surprising that I have only been there once before.

On Thursday my wife and I stopped off in Vitoria Gasteiz in the Basque country and enjoyed a walk around the old part of town before continuing to Lognrono where we stayed the night. We very much appreciated a bottle of 2006 Roda 1 with a rib of beef at Meson Egues, which received pretty much unanimous good reviews in Trip Advisor (we thought it was good too, but not excellent). The wine was deep, fruity, complex and ready to drink. I had asked for a glass of sherry before dinner since this is impossible to come by in my neck of the woods. But I was soon to learn that this wine is virtually unavailable in Rioja too...
The owner came by at the end of the meal and left a bottle of the local speciality, Patxaran, on the table, inviting us to have as much as we wanted. This liqueur made with sloe plums and aniseed is said to be good for the digestion. We enjoyed the small amount we poured ourselves.

We visited 3 wineries in Haro on Saturday monring: Lopez de Heredia is one of the oldest and most respected producers in Rioja. The founder was born in Chile, learned about winemaking in Bordeaux and established his own winery in Rioja in 1877. We took a guided tour of the historic premises, which would probably make a New World winemaker shudder. The vats look like they belong in a museum and you really do get the impression you are back in the 19th century... Not surprisingly, this producer has the reputation of making old-fashioned wines. We didn't think a great deal of their 2003 Riserva, but my wife liked the 2002 Vina Gravonia (a white Rioja) which reminded me of an old Sémillon. I bought a 2003 Vina Bosconia, which was fruity and nice, ready to drink and in no way tired. I also bought a bottle of their 1995 Vinas Bosconia Gran Riserva which I did not taste beforehand. I am expecting an older, very tertiary style.

The second winery was La Rioja Alta. We did not take a tour. Just tasted and came away with 4 wines: a 2011 Rias Baixas (the firm owns vines in this region as well), a fruity and ready-to-drink 2006 Crianza, a more serious 2004 Reserva that can use some bottle age, and a 1998 Gran Reserva I plan to drink before the end of the year.

The last winery of the day was Roda. Curiously, I did not really like their more expensive, top-flight wines, preferring the more open, better-balanced, and less oaky cuvées. They recently acquired vines in Ribera del Duero, and I thought their 2010 at 18 euros as bottle was a very vigorous flavorsome wine and came away with a couple of bottles.

We had lunch in Haro, but since neither my wife nor I speak Spanish, we were handed an "English" menu. I ordered "leg of lamb", but this turned out to be lamb's *feet*! I had one mouthful of this cartilaginous mess and left the rest, good-naturedly advising the restaurant owner to do a better job with their translations in the future...

We then went to our hotel, the Marquès de Riscal in Elciego. This was very much out of character because far beyond our means. We generally prefer to splurge on restaurant meals and stay in modest accommodation. But this was different. It was my birthday, and I had heard about the modern architecture and decided to pull out all the stops. I was not disappointed. The architecture is fabulous and reminiscent of other buildings designed by Frank Gehry (whose long string of creations includes the Guggenheim in Bilbao and the Disney concert hall in California). For the first time in my life I was upgraded to a palatial room (we had chosen the least expensive they were offering) with a sweeping view of the vineyards, the winery, and the attractive 17th century town of Elciego.
We had dinner there too at their gastronomic restaurant. The food was very good and the modern décor extremely tasteful with, once again, plate glass windows overlooking the vineyards. We ordered 7 Marquès de Riscal wines by the glass. The sparkling Rioja was not their own and best forgotten. We had two Riscal wines from the Rueda region with the first course. The Sauvignon Blanc had understated tropical fruit flavors and more than a little acidity and the Limousin, made primarily from Verdejo, was aged in the eponymous oak, but this was not overwhelming. These were middle-of-the-road modern wines probably best enjoyed very young. The second set of wines consisted of 07 Marquès de Arienzo Crianza and 07 Finca Torrea. The former was in the cheap and cheerful category but the latter, made from a named vineyard near the winery had more character. The last flight was comprised of the 2001 Reserva (a great vintage apparently) and the 2005 Baron de Chirel. I preferred the Reserva. The wine waiter smiled and said that is probably because of the wine's structure and the fact that I am used to Bordeaux. The first glass of Baron de Chirel was corked and was whisked away with full agreement as to the wine's defect. The second glass did not display the same flaw, and was clearly an "ambitious" wine, but with concentration and oak that masked the terroir in my opinion. Let it be noted, however, that my better half preferred this, and she is no mean taster.
Giving in to one of my many vices, I smoked a cigar and sipped a brandy on the terrace after dinner in the cool of the evening. For those of you who plan a trip to Spain, here is a warning: when ordering brandy, be prepared to be served very, very, very generously in an outsize glass.
I slept soundly...

On Sunday, we visited two wineries. The first, surprise, surprise, was Marquès de Riscal, a 3 minute walk from the hotel (which is built above the cellars!). Riscal is very much geared up to wine tourism with a film presentation and tours around the clock. This is a very large-scale operation, with gift shop and the whole works. I was happy to take the tour, but would not necessarily recommend it to people serious about wine or, not, in any event, with a group. For information, Riscal also make a rare cuvée, the Frank Gehry Selection. It sells for something like 300 euros a bottle and I will leave that to people more wealthy than me...

In keeping with phantasmagorical wine architecture, we went to Ysios winery in nearby Laguardia. This is owned by Domecq, which is in turn owned by Pernod Ricard, whose flagship Rioja is the major brand Campo Viejo. The winery is very striking and I took a number of photos (were I more computer literate, I would upload them, but you can see for yourself in 30 seconds if you google Ysios). The winery operation is as modern as the architecture. I have to say though that I was unfortunately not as impressed with the wines, which I thought lacked finesse. The Reserva sells for 18 euros a bottle and their special cuvée is more like 50.
Afterward, we went to visit the walled medieval village of Laguardia, where the town fiesta was taking place. We saw the running of the bulls, hung out, drank up the atmosphere, had wine and tapas, and promised ourselves to return before all too long.
We had only one regret: had we come 5 days later, we could have seen and/or participated in the Battle of the Wine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haro_Wine_Festival

Best regards,
Alex R.

[DavidG]

Nice write-up and a fun read Alex. I've had the Lopez de Heredia wines only a few times (at BWE events in CA with Peter/Cabfan & JamesG). I liked the reds better than the whites.

It sounds like a very enjoyable trip and a fun way to celebrate your birthday. Wishing you many more!

[Jay Winton]

Very interesting read. Spain is a destination in the near future I hope. Thanks Alex

[stefan]

Nice read, Alex. Happy birthday!

[dstgolf]

Sounds like a great time Alex. Beautiful Hotel and wonderful way to celebrate your 60th??

Danny

[AlexR]

59th Danny.

My 60th will be either a blowout party or a meal for 6 or 8 people with stellar wines.
Haven't decided yet.

Alex

[JCNorthway]

Happy birthday, Alex. And thanks for all the detail of what sounds like a lovely trip. Paula and I talk about needing to get to Spain to explore. But since we are getting to Europe less frequently, we seem to default to "France again." Always with no regrets, I might add!

[skrusie]

Thanks for the recap, Alex. Question: Did you need to reserve or call ahead to let the wineries know you were coming? My wife and I will be visiting our son in Madrid for several days and my thought is to rent a car and either visit Rioja or Ribera del Duero. Have you done both? or only Rioja?

[AlexR]

We did call ahead and reserve for Riscal, Ysios, and Lopez de Heredia.
This was wise because:
- there are far fewer tours in English
- we were there on a week-end when there are the most visitors.

The set-up in Haro, where many of the wineries are bunched together, is much like California. You can tour and taste or just taste.
It costs to do either, but I perfectly understand the reasoning behind that.

Bottom line: it makes sense to plot your winery tours beforehand to be aware of distances and travel times, and to be sure someone English-speaking will be able to welcome you.
Of course, it is not always possible to think ahead, in which case dropping in on most of the big wineries to taste seems to be an option.

You might want to check out these sites:

http://www.wineweb.com/scripts/searchWi ... a%20Rioja/

http://www.winecountrygetaways.com/spai ... eries.html

All the best,
Alex R.

[Michael-P]

Alex:

Wonderful experiences, so thanks for sharing. The room upgrade, fancy dinner and finish with brandy and cigar sounds like the perfect birthday. Well done!

Michael-P

[tim]

Happy Birthday Alex, sounds like it was a fantastic trip!

[Nicklasss]

Bon anniversaire Alex.

Mes meilleurs voeux. Normalement, si tout va bien, je devrais aller en France (dans le coin de St-Jean de Mauriennes) pour ''affaires''. Je vérifierai la possibilité de faire un détour par Bordeaux.

Et oui, j'oubliais, beau rapport sur cette visite dans la Rioja.

Nic