Wine tourism in La Rioja is progressing by leaps and bounds. If there is one area of Spain associated with a liquid treasure of international fame, it is La Rioja. That is why this area has become the best in the country for tourism activities related to the world of wine, and that is La Rioja.
This drink, which has been with us for more than 8,000 years and which arrived in La Rioja thanks to the Roman conquerors, offers an infinite number of activities that revolve around this rich delicacy, including: wine therapy, wine tasting, museums, accommodation with wine tourism programmes, restaurants in the middle of a winery, winefulness.
The best thing is that wine tourism in La Rioja is for everyone: both for wine lovers and even for those who do not like wine, but do like the culture of this drink of gods.
Below, we tell you the best activities to do during your visit to La Rioja. Welcome to the Spanish Tuscany!
Winery restaurants
La Rioja wine dominates the gastronomic scene, but we can’t forget how well it accompanies the other products of the land, such as tomatoes, baked lamb or lamb cutlets, alegrías riojanas or vegetables. You can’t miss the wide range of gastronomy as part of a wine tourism break in La Rioja!
La Vieja Bodega
Enjoy the stone, wood, art and the best service at La Vieja Bodega. On their menu you will find a wide variety of dishes among which you can taste Rioja classic dishes, some of them are reinterpreted, as well as the chef’s creations. There is a wine list with more than 400 references specially chosen for you to enjoy the most suitable wine for every occasion, every dish and every company.
The wine corner (El rincón del vino)
This is one of the first wineries in La Rioja. It has a main dining room under a solid brick arch, with a half-barrel vault and tables separated by oak and wrought-iron modules, slate and stone. Over the years they have specialised in grilled meats. It is also one of the most emblematic and romantic places in the old town, where seasonal products blend perfectly with traditional cuisine and modern touches.
El Asador Herventia
A restaurant that cooks grilled food live in full view of customers. It serves fine steaks, milk lamb, suckling pig, local vegetables and fresh fish. Attentive waiter service, a warm atmosphere and a city centre location mean that a visit to this place is always a good choice. There are more than 300 wines on offer, and there are separate rooms ideal for family gatherings.
Herrerías Tavern (Taberna Herrerías)
Taberna Herrerías is housed in a 16th century mansion, a formidable mansion in the heart of the old part of Logroño, overlooking the churches of San Bartolomé and Palacios. In the imposing wine cellar, the dining room offers traditional, seasonal cuisine, all cooked with care and without artifice. Meat, fish and vegetables on a dynamic menu that is frequently updated. It is more than a restaurant; it is an experience in the Rioja style.
Wine tasting in La Rioja
Surrounded by barrels where the wines are maturing, in rooms overlooking vineyards or outside, on the banks of a river or next to the vineyards where they come from, wine tastings in wineries in La Rioja are an essential wine tourism experience.
Supported by the information, knowledge and passion of the people who explain each wine, you will learn more about the types of grapes, fermentation time, colour, smell and, of course, taste. Among the nearly 600 Rioja bottling wineries registered with the Control Board of the Rioja Qualified Designation of Origin, 324 are located in La Rioja, almost 100 of which can be visited.
In one of the tasting rooms available to customers, it is the moment to taste the wines. For exclusive wine tastings we recommend: Bodegas y Viñedos Fernández de Manzanos, Bodegas Tomás Amutio, Bodegas La Rioja Alta, Bodegas y Viñedos Alvia, Bodegas del Marqués de Vargas and also Bodegas Ramón Bilbao.
Accommodation and wine tourism
Travelling to learn about and enjoy wine tourism in La Rioja is becoming fashionable. And the accommodation has been doing its best to respond to this demand. That’s why we’ll tell you about some of the best accommodation with wine tourism programmes in the region.
Hotel-Bodega Finca de Los Arandinos
The icing on the cake is to spend the night in a hotel in the winery. Yes, and you can enjoy the experience of sleeping in a hotel in a winery in La Rioja at the Hotel-Bodega Finca de Los Arandinos. Surrounded by vineyards and olive trees, with fields close by and mountains as far as the eye can see, Finca Los Arandinos has 30 plots in different areas around the winery, totalling 16 hectares of vineyards throughout the village. Finca los Arandinos has a winery, tasting room, hotel, terrace, garden and, of course, a restaurant.
Tondón Palace
An ancient palace dating back to the 16th century that was used to be everything in the village, from a school to a bakery, has now been converted by a winemaking family into a cosy hotel with 33 rooms and marvellous views of the Ebro with vineyards nearby. The restaurant, with its large windows overlooking the river and the vineyards, makes any meal a delight. They organise visits to wineries, picnics in the vineyards and other activities.
Finca Los Arandinos
The hotel Finca Los Arandinos is the creation of a fourth-generation wine-producing family. The hotel is located within the six hectares of vineyards of their property and breaks with the classic patterns of interior design of this type of accommodation. The interior decoration is the work of David Delfín. All the rooms have views of the vineyards, especially the two suites, which have glass windows that make you fall in love with the landscape. It also has a spa, a restaurant and a private visit to the winery.
Hotel Bodegas FyA by Carlos Bujanda
This hotel is one of the latest investments of the businessman Carlos Bujanda Fernández de Piérola, who owns wineries in several Spanish denominations of origin. A highly recommended place for those looking for a real immersion in the world of wine. The rooms are very spacious and the décor is serene and elegant, very minimalist. All of them have views of the vineyards and the Moncalvillo mountain range. There is also a restaurant, a small spa, gym and, of course, visits to the vineyards and wineries.
Villa de Ábalos
This is another noble manor house converted into a guesthouse dedicated to wine and its culture. Its 12 rooms are decorated with stone. It also has a restaurant and gastrobar with its own cuisine, prepared by Merche, the owner, based on regional products. They produce their own wine with grapes from the family estate.
Wine therapy in La Rioja
On your wine tourism getaway in La Rioja you can also discover the therapeutic benefits and cosmetic properties of grapes and their derivatives, through wine therapy, with modern and innovative techniques with natural treatments, with “designation of origin”, based on wine.
The natural treatments provide healthy benefits and delay cellular ageing, tone the skin, improve blood circulation and, above all, provide a pleasant feeling of relaxation.
Thanks to the wide variety of manual techniques, music, aromas and the best natural cosmetics, you can relax and enjoy a unique experience.
Let your skin soak up the properties of this juicy nectar in exclusive spaces such as the Agua Manil Spa-center, Ópalo, Saline Spa or Finca Los Arandinos.
An original way to complete your experience through all five senses!
Vineyards by Segway off road
Maybe you’re used to seeing small groups of tourists driving around a city on a Segway, but the experience is even more fun when you take a Segway tour through the countryside.
If that countryside is lined with vineyards almost to the base of the mountains, if you can get up close to see bunches of grapes or zoom out to see a sea of vineyards, that’s a bonus you can get with a Segway tour of La Rioja.
It’s not about rallying, but it is about being comfortable on tracks that only tractors or hikers tread, next to the vineyards and among them while you listen to explanations about the vineyards and the Rioja landscape.
Winefulness in La Rioja
Enjoy a unique experience in Rioja to find your personal wellbeing, combining meditation, nature and wine.
Winefulness aims to bring people closer to the benefits of meditation in full contact with nature and the sensory perceptions provided by wine, allowing attendees to relax in a privileged environment.
They also learn to taste with the 5 senses to enjoy more intensely the tasting and pairing of wines through Mindful Eating, perfect to reduce stress, to know the power of breathing, etc.
Wine tourism riding on horseback in La Rioja
To enjoy this magnificent natural environment in the most traditional way, there is nothing like a visit on horseback that you can enjoy as a couple, with friends or with the whole family, to get to know the emblematic vineyards of La Rioja from a different perspective.
The carriage ride is a great travel alternative for those who want to get to know the essence of these lands, their culture, customs and history. The professional coachmen will teach you the ins and outs of this traditional means of transport and the secrets of harnessing horses while you travel along some of the most beautiful routes around Logroño.
You will visit historic pilgrimage sites, vineyards and wineries, where you can sample some of the most popular dishes of Riojan gastronomy and its internationally renowned wines.
Crafts and wine in La Rioja
There are places to visit that revolve around wine craftsmanship and that will leave you speechless, such as visiting cooperages to learn about the process of making barrels, as well as the process of making wine bottles.
The Magreñán Cooperage
This is a family-run cooperage whose renowned prestige has been achieved on the basis of its seriousness and conscientious work in the manufacture of barrels with American and French split oak. They study the characteristics of each type of oak according to its species, origin and the way it is worked.
Fernando Gangutia Cooperage
Fernando Gangutia has more than a hundred years of artisan heritage in Cenicero, and it is situated in the heart of the Rioja Alta. The family name is famous for the manufacture of barrels that has been in the business for five generations.
Botero Félix Barbero
A workshop of artisan and family tradition in which wine casks are made from different leathers (goat, bull, gazelle…). They are wineskins made of fish, with latex interior, and other articles such as carpets, cushions, dolls…
The best wine museum is in La Rioja
During a wine tourism getaway in La Rioja, it is a must to visit the Vivanco Museum of Wine Culture, part of the Vivanco Foundation, in Briones, which was declared the “Best Wine Museum in the World” by the UNWTO-UNESCO in 2007.
There are 4,000 m2, 5 permanent rooms and an outdoor collection of 220 varieties of grapevines from all over the world.
Inside, there are more than 40 years of collecting by the Vivanco family with unique pieces complemented by videos, information panels, sensory experience areas and everything necessary for the layman to learn more about the world of wine.
The Crafts and Wine Fair
If your wine tourism getaway in La Rioja takes place at the end of July, you can’t miss the Wine and Crafts Fair, as it is one of the most consolidated and well-established events in the region.
This event has become a benchmark for this type of fair, attended every year by thousands of visitors to the different activities scheduled throughout the weekend, ranging from guided tours of wineries to routes, pincho competitions, commented tastings, musical activities and, of course, dozens of artisans of all kinds.
See, touch, taste, smell and savour. The five senses of wine come to the fore every year at the end of July in a festival that increases in number with each edition, where visitors enjoy the local wine and get to know and purchase artisan products: agri-food, painting, pottery and basketry, among others.
This cultural day with roots in the region of La Rioja, is a fixed date for many Riojan people and tourists, lovers of crafts in general and Riojan wine in particular.
Wine tourism activities in La Rioja are waiting for you to enjoy the land of wine at any season.
Don’t miss it!
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