La Rioja, the land of wine
🌿 TYPE OF TRIP
Gastronomy and nature
🤔 BEST TIME TO TRAVEL TO LA RIOJA
SEPTEMBER: Enjoy the harvest festivals, which fill the towns of La Rioja with celebrations and wine.
✔ WHAT TO DO IN LA RIOJA
Let's raise a glass to La Rioja and some of the finest red wines produced in the country. Its wines pair beautifully with the ochre soils and vast blue skies of this region, which feels far more Mediterranean than the verdant Basque Country further north. In fact, it's hard not to feel like you're in another country. The bulk of the vineyards in this region flank the Ebro River near the town of Haro, but some extend into neighboring Navarre and the Basque province of Álava. However, this diverse region offers much more than just the pleasures of the grape. Spending a few days here allows you to visit lively villages and peaceful pilgrim churches, and even track giant reptiles.
🌮 YOU CAN'T LEAVE LA RIOJA WITHOUT TRYING IT
This simple, delicious cuisine, based on local products, can be enjoyed in Rioja's restaurants, from tasty set menus to elaborate signature dishes renowned with Michelin stars; but it can also be experienced in the most traditional way: going from bar to bar (pintxos) in the most famous areas of each Rioja town. From its gardens come the best ingredients for its signature vegetable dishes, from artichokes, cardoon, and borage, to the masterful combination of all of them in an exceptional vegetable stew. The meat dishes are equally impressive; here you can savor lamb chops roasted over the dried vine shoots pruned from Rioja's vineyards. Some traditional dishes that grandmothers used to make can still be enjoyed today: cod, pig's feet, trotters, duck breast, sausages, snails... If you have room for something sweet, you must try the fardelejos from Arnedo, made with almonds and oil, or the marzipan from Soto.
👁🗨 CURIOSITIES OF LA RIOJA
One of La Rioja's most curious traditions is the popular Wine Battle. Every June 29th, the feast day of Saint Peter, the famous Wine Battle takes place, a pilgrimage to a hermitage near the city that ends with thousands of people throwing wine at each other with the most outlandish weapons, from sprayers to toy guns. It's the wildest festival in La Rioja, in which up to 75,000 liters of wine are spilled in just a few hours. Afterward, they return to Haro, displaying the scars of this battle on their colorful clothing, where they dance the traditional "vueltas" in the Plaza de la Paz, next to the Haro Town Hall.
😎 MISS WOOD'S TIP
Visit some of the most famous wineries in the DO, adorned with avant-garde architecture. From Bodegas Campo Viejo in Logroño to Marqués de Tena, winner of the same award in 2007, and the new Ysios winery in Laguardia, designed by Santiago Calatrava. And of course, the Marqués de Riscal winery in Elciego, where the American architect Frank Gehry made such extensive use of titanium that it's hard to believe they cultivate wines inside and not works of art, like in the Guggenheim.
5 MUST-SEE PLACES IN LA RIOJA
1. LOGROÑO: Logroño is a majestic wine-producing city with a heart of tree-lined squares, narrow streets, and hidden corners. It boasts several monuments, but perhaps most importantly for some, it offers a vast selection of pintxo bars. In fact, Logroño is rapidly building a culinary reputation worthy of rivaling any other Spanish city.
2. VIVANCO: A must-see for wine lovers, the Museum of Wine Culture, a high-tech center, delves into the history and culture of wine as well as the various processes of its production. Some of the treasures on display include wine jugs designed by Picasso, Roman and Byzantine mosaics, and religious objects inspired by winemaking. Several guided tours are offered behind the scenes of wine production, including tastings.
3. YUSO MONASTERY: This 6th-century monastery in San Millán de la Cogolla, sometimes called 'The Escorial of La Rioja', houses numerous treasures in its museum. It can only be visited as part of a guided tour (tours are only available in Spanish; visitors who do not speak Spanish receive an information leaflet with texts in English and French). The tours last 50 minutes and depart approximately every half hour. The monastery provides maps of short routes through the region.
4. RIOJATREK: Riojatrek, located 2.5 km southeast of the center, has a wide range of customizable wine tours (which can include a visit to a vineyard and a traditional winery and even winemaking workshops), as well as wine tastings and excursions along some of the most fabulous mountain routes in La Rioja.
5. HARO: Despite its fame in the wine world, Haro, the capital of the Rioja wine region, isn't a town of breathtaking beauty. However, the city has a lively pace, and its compact old town, which begins at Plaza de la Paz, boasts charming streets lined with bars and wine shops. Wineries abound in the area surrounding Haro, some of which are open to the public (although advance booking is almost always necessary). The tourist office provides a complete list of wineries that can be visited.
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