La Dolce Vita Wine Tours

Rioja Roundup

The Past and Future of Spanish Wine

Slide Show:

Hola Rioja! Spain’s most famous wine region, nestled beside the Sierra Cantabria mountains
RIOJA ROUNDUP starts in Valladolid, capital of Castilla y León
This part of Spain offers both ancient monuments…
…and cutting-edge architecture, like YSIOS, a winery by architect Santiago Calatrava
We begin with a lesson in terroir at ABADIA RETUERTA
The abbey’s medieval church serves as ABADIA RETUERTA’s tasting room
Peñafiel, ground zero for Ribera del Duero and our home base on night #1.
Afternoon takes us to PROTOS, Peñafiel’s oldest winery, reborn.
PROTOS’ wines: classic and superb
The star of the show: bush-trained tempranillo
A tempranillo cluster, fresh from harvest
Our time in Ribera includes boutique wineries like CONVENTO SAN FRANCISCO.
CONVENTO SAN FRANCISCO’s Cesar Rodriguez explains various methods of punch-over
¡Che bueno! Sated after our tasting
There’s time to poke around Peñafiel. Here, the local bull ring. Olé!
Day 2, we visit the pioneering EMILIO MORO.
Here we taste tempranillo in every style, from joven to va-va-voom.
En route to Rioja, we stop in BURGOS, a World Heritage site
A guest poses in pilgrim wear in Burgos.
MIGUEL MERINO claims his is the smallest winery in Rioja. It’s unquestionably one of the best.
A Kodak moment in the experimental vineyard at MIGUEL MERINO
We stop in the Gothic cathedral of Briones
Day 3 features the GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM in Bilbao
That afternoon, we return to Rioja’s most traditional winery, LOPEZ DE HEREDIA
Their ancient fermentation tanks, still in use
The last of the Mohicans, LOPEZ DE HEREDIA ages its wines for 10-20 years in barrique
All those barrels mean LOPEZ DE HEREDIA has its own cooperage
A touch of modern: Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid’s tasting room for LOPEZ DE HEREDIA
Good wine requires good food, like roasted lamb at the REMELLURI winery
Day 4 features another classicist: FAUSTINO
And continues with CONTINO, which pioneered 100% estate-grown fruit.
CONTINO’s Jesus Madrazo Mateo offers a taste of partially fermented grape must
Line ’em up: CONTINO’s elegant Rioja Reserva.
Happy now! An al fresco tasting at CONTINO
Afternoon spotlights MARQUES DE RISCAL, another project of architect Frank Gehry
Harvest activities at the winery
Afternoon takes us to RAMIREZ DE GANUZA, a modernist—and perfectionist.
Our group at CASTILLO DE CUZCURRITA, a winery with castle (not bad!)
Double-fisted drinking at CUZCURRITA, where we compare two tempranillo. ¡Salud!