Wine & Gastronomy of the Rioja – A 5-day Guided Tour

Jan. 18, 2009 - PRLog -- Itinerary:

Day 1 - Labastida (Rioja Alavesa)

•   9:30 am - Meet with your guide in the lobby of the hotel.

•   10:00 am - Visit to the Bodegas Remelluri in Labastida for the first wine tasting of the day. This is an old winery in the French chateau style, set against the Cantabria Mountains. The winery produces an excellent Reserve and Gran Reserve wines, recognized around the world for their character.

•   11:00 am - We move to the Bodega Solagüen, a wine grower's cooperative society, which produces excellent and elegant tintos (reds) and blancos (white wines). It is a modern winery built in the 60's and expanded in 2006.

•   12:30 pm - We next visit the Bodega Agricola Labastida to taste several wines along with a typical Riojan appetizer. This is an old family winery dating from the 13th Century. They produce superb artisan wines in the traditional method and have received many awards in Bordeaux.

•   2:00 pm - Lunch today will be at one of our favorite family restaurants in the Rioja, Ariño, where you will be served a traditional lunch accompanied by a local Crianza. The restaurant is well known for its chuletón (a large grilled oxen T-bone steak)

•   4:00 pm - Drive back to the hotel.

•   The evening is free to visit the medieval walled village of Laguardia with its narrow streets where cars are banned, and where below lay more than 250 wine cellars, some dating back to the early part of the 19th century during the Napoleonic invasion, and used as bomb shelters during the Spanish civil war.

Day 2 - Haro (Rioja Alta)

•   9:30 am - Meet with your guide in the lobby of the hotel.

•   10:00 am - Visit to the Bodegas Muga in Haro for our first wine tasting of the day. This is a very important and historical winery in the Rioja, which produces some very prestigious wines. The winery also has its own cooperage and produces its own wine casks.

•   12:30 pm - Next we will visit Bodegas Bilbainas for another wine tasting. This is one of the oldest wineries in Haro and became a part of the Codorniu group in 1997, allowed them to use the most modern techniques in vine growing and wine production. The also produce an excellent "cava".

•   2:30 pm - Lunch today will be at Restaurant Las Duelas, located inside the Hotel Los Agustinos in Haro. The chef, Juan Nales Rückauer, offers "Nouvelle" cuisine, a contemporary take on the more traditional Riojan fare.

•   4:30 pm - Drive back to the hotel.

•   The evening is free to visit Laguardia for pintxos.

Day 3 - San Vicente de la Sonsierra & Samaniego (Rioja Alta)

•   9:30 am - Meet with your guide in the lobby of the hotel.

•   10:30 am - Today we start with a visit to the Bodegas Rairez deal Piscian in Sonsierra, a modern winery with a long family tradition of producing great wines, which rate high on the Robert Parker selections.

•   12:00 pm - From there we move to Bodegas Ostatu, another fine, family run winery headed by the Saenz de Samaniego family, which has received numerous awards in Bordeaux and Brussels.

•   1:30 pm - Just up the road is the newly opened winery of Bodegas Baigorri, which has an innovative approach not only to the architecture, but also in the process of making their outstanding wines. The new winery was designed by famed Basque architect Inaki Aspiazu, who also designed the new Tour Muga tower.

•   2:30 pm - Lunch today will be at Hector Oribe in the hamlet of Paganos, one of the premier young chefs in the Rioja. There will be a tasting menu, offering the chef's best specialties.

•   4:30 pm - Drive back to the hotel.

•   Again, the evening is free.

Day 4 - Elciego (Rioja Alavesa)

•   9:30 am - Meet with your guide in the lobby of the hotel.

•   10:00 am - Today we start off with a visit to the Bodegas Viña Salceda, a member of the Chivite Group, in the village of Elciego, which produces a limited production of good, balanced Crianza and excellent Reservas.

•   12:00 am - Now we head to one of the most prestigious wineries in the Rioja, the Bodega de Marques de Riscal and the "City of Wine", the spa hotel designed by Frank Gehry in the village of Elciego. The Marques de Riscal, a family owned winery, is one of the oldest labels in the Rioja and produces an extensive collection of prestigious wines.

•   2:00 pm - Lunch today will be at the Marques de Riscal restaurant, with world-class cuisine by the great chef Francis Paniego, the first chef of the Rioja to be awarded a Michelin star.

•   4:30 pm - Drive back to the hotel.

•   The evening is free to explore Laguardia.

Day 5 Laguardia (Rioja Alavesa)

•   9:30 am - Meet with your guide in the lobby of the hotel.

•   10:00 am - This morning you will visit the winery of Bodegas Carlos San Pedro Pérez de Viñaspre, a small family winery in the old center of Laguardia whose cellars date from the 15th century, where you will be able to taste the wine from the tanks.

•   11:30 am - You will then visit La Bodega El Fabuslista, one of the oldest wineries in Spain that still uses the traditional method of producing their wines, and where the careful hand-selection of the grapes is one of the hallmarks of their complex wines.

•   1:00 pm - We will be visiting the Bodegas Ysios as our final stop on this tour. Ysios is a modern winery designed by the famous architect, artist and engineer Santiago Calatrava who designed the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia and is currently working on the 80th Street Station in New York and the Atlanta Symphony Center.

•   2:30 pm - Lunch today will be at Marixa restaurant in Laguardia for a taste of traditional Riojan cuisine.

•   4:30 pm - Return to the hotel.

•   Your last evening is free to relax and enjoy Laguardia.


Day 6 Check out of the hotel and continue your adventure in Spain.

Cost: Starting at 2399.95 EUR/person, based on double occupancy, superior room

Tour includes, 6 nights deluxe hotel accommodations, breakfast at the hotel, lunch daily - gourmet dining, local wines, knowledgeable guide, local transportation, personalized service.

# # #

Tour Operator offering custom tour packages in Spain, Portugal and southwest France. Specializing in the Fiesta de San Fermín, the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain.