Bodegas or Wine-makers, La Rioja wine region in Spain has some superb example that are open for tastings and visits. We at Basque Experiences love them!
A fine spring morning, with mist still sat on the Sierra Cantabria and a brisk breeze ensuring our sweaters remained on, saw us undertake the dreaded task of discovering some new bodegas for our new Basque Tours… Tough huh?
We really love to learn about our destinations and as part of this we take our visits seriously. We would never accompany or even send our clients somewhere we haven’t been before. No matter what people say about a place, it’s reputation, its website, the name, or indeed the reports one receives, there is nothing like meeting the owners or the team that run the bodega and who undertake the visit and tasting to establish whether it will be for us, and therefore for you. Our bespoke tours need this level of attention, its about trust.
Three very different bodegas to give us some great new options to be able to offer our visitors.
The first, a gorgeous small bodega BODEGA TORRE DE OÑA that only makes two wines, with excellent facilities a great wine bar, and a fantastic 6-room, palace nestled amongst the vines. A chance for our guests to stay at the bodega for their La Rioja stay.
Rioja Palace
Our second bodega was a tiny ‘garage’ style operation who as yet do not undertake visits… You can be the first to come with us to meet this great couple who make and supply Organic wines to Michelin Star restaurants in San Sebastián. One of a few bodegas in La Rioja who are able to label their wines as ‘Organic’under the ES-ECO-027-RI certificate. It’s a ‘terroir-to-table’ visit with us visiting the vines, tasting wine in-situ before heading to the nearby village to their old house and ‘cave’ where the family have been making wine for generations. Its going to be a great tour believe me!!!
Our third and final visit was at another small bodega with a long history! The owners are positioning themselves against some of the larger and more well visited bodegas and their attitude of ‘guerilla’ marketing is going to make this a firm favourite with us. The emphasis here is the wine itself with the focus being on the tasting rather than the processes of the facilities, as some visits seem to focus on. The range of wines they make is superb and its not restricted to just 3-4 either…. you will see what we mean!!
All in all a really successful day. I really can’t wait to introduce these fantastic people and bodegas to you. They really are the new spirit of the great wines being crafted in the La Rioja Alavesa region and are dedicated, passionate and charming to match! Which is what we feel really makes the place !
