With the title, I am trying to say wine and food heaven, which is how I feel about La Rioja at the moment – after a cellar tour, wine tasting and beautiful lunch (see above) overlooking the Ebro at Roda winery.
We began Tuesday collecting our fantastic little Smart car for our journey to La Rioja.
The two hour trip took us through tree-covered rolling hills and farmland with amazing views of a series of beautiful valleys. Until finally, we crossed the mountains, leaving Basque Country and descending into La Rioja and its vast network of vineyards.
Our first stop was the town of Laguardia. This is a beautiful walled town founded in the 12th century and is perched on a hilltop. We didn’t get to see any, but we are told that there are hundreds of cellars beneath the town, filled with maturing wine – hence, cars are banned in most of the town.
After wandering around for nearly an hour, we spotted an attractive looking restaurant in the main square and settled in for lunch.
Lunch was a real treat with the highlight being the codillo asado (a massive piece of slow-cooked pork). We both enjoyed a filling lunch for 12 euros each with ‘vino incluido’!
After lunch, we made a quick visit to Ysios winery to marvel at the striking architecture and then set off for Haro – the centre of the huge wine industry in La Rioja.
Hotel Arrope turned out to be a great choice, in the centre of Haro, close to the main square and many bars and restaurants. Now being seasoned tapas bar veterans, we sampled the wares from a couple of bars and tried some excellent wine from the Haro region, with nothing more than a few euros per glass; finishing up around 11:00pm. We are starting to get into the rhythm of this place – with coffee and a pastry late in the morning, lunch mid-afternoon, maybe a tapas around 6:00pm and dinner at 9:30pm or later. It all makes sense with darkness finally ascending around 10:00pm.
Wednesday was set aside for wine tasting. We started at Muga, which is near the train station in Haro, an easy walk from our hotel. Most wineries in La Rioja are by appointment only, but Muga has a wine bar and welcomed us to a tasting.
The wine was fantastic, with the reds all being 75% to 80% tempranillo – one of the main requirements for wineries to be able to label the wine ‘La Rioja’. The ultimate was the ‘Torre Muga’, a sample of which will be returning to Brisbane (for the wine aficionados – 75% tempranillo, 15% mazuelo, 10% graciano).
Then, we had pre-booked a winery tour, tasting and lunch at Roda winery, and what a treat this turned out to be. Roda is one of the smallest wineries in Haro, which is certainly not small by Australian standards. And they aspire to produce a more natural wine – they only use the natural yeast on the grape skins for fermentation, and stop the process by simply opening the massive windows of the barrel room and letting the icy winds drop the temperature naturally. Our tour guide Marta was also studying for a PhD in archiology and spoke four languages. The tour group was a little smaller than expected – just Marta, Sally and me. Very exclusive. The tour finished in a beautiful leafy terrace overlooking the river, where a table was prepared with the wine for tasting and and a genourous lunch, just for us. After the tasting, Marta left us to enjoy lunch, leaving the four bottles of freshly opened red wine from the tasting with us to enjoy over lunch – including one that retails for €148. See what I mean by food and wine heaven.
From Roda, we will be returning with a ‘Roda I Reserva 2011’ (91% tempranillo, 9% graciano).
On a more sober note, our guide Marta explained how the town of Haro is suffering a similar fate to many regional towns in Australia, and dying a slow death. Her parents once operated two shops in the main square, and have had to relocate to survive. There are many shops being advertised for sale or lease. We saw very few young people in the groups frequenting the many bars and small plazas.
We are pleased that we chose Haro as our base in La Rioja. It is a little off the tourist track and the people were welcoming and friendly. After Roja, we are looking forward to Segovia.
Colin & Sally's Travels 
What no Grenache! Col and Sally thanks for inviting us on your tour. Clearly your research has paid dividends. I am looking forward to a fuller explanation of ‘La Rioja’ on your return. What an awesome trip.
LikeLike
Hello Gary,
There is certainly grenache in La Rioja, usually as one of the blends to make up the final 15 to 20%. Saw it on a couple of wine lists as a full grenache, but can’t be labeled as La Rioja.
Colin
LikeLike