We are staying here and have a tour scheduled. I’m a wine educator and work in a boutique shop in Chestnut Hill so I’d like to find other experiences in Rioja that are not rote and also opportunities to find interesting smaller brands that we might be able to sell in the states. Any suggestions? We will be in Rioja, San Sebastián and Bilbao. In Mallorca I’m reaching out to Ribas. I read they are the oldest winery on the island. Appreciate any suggestions. Trip isn’t till mid June.
by mobilegal
15 Comments
That’s a wild building design, thought it was AI at first. Where is this?
And the Guggenheim in Bilbao
Talk to some of your distributors? They might be able to provide a contact or something. Mine tell me that if I ever go out to CA wine country, they can hook me up.
We loved Muga – it’s a big guy, but they give a great tour, great wine, and there is a full bar at the end where you can enjoy a proper glass.
La Rioja Alta was our favorite wine
Just got back from a similar trip. We were only able to squeeze in a few places, but can highly recommend all three. Remirez de Ganuza, Artuke, and Elena Corzana. If you end up going to Elena, DM me!
I can highly recommend visiting a small producer in Logroño, Arizcuren. They have a modern take on Rioja.
I also have been lucky enough to stay there. It is a wonderful hotel! Lopez de heredia is always a winner and my favorite wines of the region. Sandra bravo at Sierra de Tolono up in Rioja Alavesa does great stuff as well more in the biodynamic camp. As others have said, muga and Rioja Alta are fantastic wineries. If you like modern, Macan is owned by Vega Sicilia and Lafite-Rothschild and crafts very solid wines.
If you are going to Mallorca, I have to recommend restaurant Andreu genestra. It was one of the best meals of my life. Local tasting menu they only do 10 or 12 of a night, so request to do it when you make the reservation. Everything was from within sight of the winery, and most of the wines were experimental, unreleased cuvées from local wineries. It was a revelation, and blew away the meal I had a Mugaritz the day before. For about 25% of the price. Everything Michelin dining is meant to be. Couldn’t believe it’s only 1 star.
Marques de Murrietta
Jealous. The tour at the hotel isn’t the best and we ended up skipping the tasting because it seemed very commercial and focused on their cheaper stuff. You likely know since you’re in the industry but Haro has a cluster of well known stops including our favorite La Rioja Alta. There is also a little shop in Haro with some seriously dusty vintages. I was a little worried about storage conditions but we have opened some of the bottles we got from there without any issues.
The hotel is great. We went back and forth on room type and ended up with a corner suite in the annex building. This allowed us to have a view of the main building and the vineyards from our balcony. We skipped the main restaurant. Does it still have a star? We did dinner on the wine bar patio which is now one of my core memories from this trip.
San Sebastian and Bilbao are great too. Sounds like you’ll have an excellent trip.
Go bodegas puelles 🙂
What does rote mean in this context? Just red?
Hontza for natural, super non-interventionist winemaking
Jesus Puelles for an honest down to earth family run winery making quality wines
And my personal favorite, Bideona, for a winery that eschews the “rote” stuff (the whole Crianza, Reserva, Gran Reserva tiers and the overuse of oak) and follows a Burgundian model of producing different wines based on region, village, vineyard, single plot.
If you can get in, Lopez Heredia was an incredible tour and winery. Of course la rioja Alta is great too. In San Sebastián see if you can rent a car or take a bus to getaria. Super cute town and some wineries overlooking the Atlantic with some good txakoli
While we were there a few years back our favorite wines were from Bodegas Tritium and then from a winemaker name Barbara Palacios. Her wine is amazing – like Rioja meets Bordeaux. At the time she didn’t have a tasting room, just a warehouse that she operated out of.
We did all of the tours named in this thread too, but loved the more intimate settings (and wine) at Tritium and Barbara Palacios.
Haro is the place to visit