The Auswine Forum

Anyone been? Advice on where to stay/go?

I had a very quick trip there a few months ago. The one always on the list of wineries to visit is Lopez de Heredia in Haro: there was a lot of hype to live up to, but it was a really special visit. Highly recommended to see how a traditional winery stays traditional in the 21st century. Nice wines too! King of a much older version of Tabilk in Spain?! Appointments are necessary in most wineries. However, right beside L. D. Heredia is Muga, and you could just walk into their very modern bar and buy a cheap tasting of their whole range. That is also highly recommended. I visited Marquis de Riscal to try to see the Gehry-built hotel, but they only let guests enter the hotel. But again, there you can show up and do a tasting. If you have a lot of cash, that would be a place to stay, although I've read mixed reviews - but it's a spectacular building.

The town of Lagradia is about 30-35 minutes outside Haro (the biggest city, and where most of the wineries are) and its the prettiest town in the area. Lovely scenery near the mountains and a cute village feeling. A little touristy and rather expensive, though. But worth a day trip for sure, and there's s few worthy wineries on the way or nearby.

I stayed in Logrono, about 20-25 minutes southeast of Haro. It is famous for its tapas scene. Laurel Street in the old town offers a huge number of restaurants where you grab a tapas and of course a glass of wine or two (about 2-3 Euros a glass) throughout the evening. Great fun to hit all the restaurants, and highly recommended. Not as nice as the San Sabastien scene, but good fun. Lots of places to stay in all the cities do some internet searches based on where you want to stay, how much you want to spend, etc.

You have to have a car, that's for sure. Hopefully you'll have the time to hit Madrid and Barcelona while you're there! If you're looking for other option, i really enjoyed visiting the Priorat wine area. Didn't love all the wines - quite big and sometimes hot - but it was a beautiful region with wonderful winery visits and good food (bit good food is a given in Spain!). Very off the beaten path.

Perfect reply! Thanks so much for the info. Lopez de Heredia is the first place I applied for an appointment with.. and the only one that hasn't replied yet.

I'll be going to Barcelona and San Sebastian also.

Hmm, I think they replied within 2-3 days for me. If they don't respond, try contacting an importer nearest you to get access. It's worth it!

Hi Guys sorry to resurrect an old thread but i like to try keep info in one place.

We are in Spain (Malaga) in a few weeks and have 5 days to get from Malaga to Barcelona by car. I would like (and have permission) to go via and spend some time in Rioja. We would like to spend 2 days in Barcelona so that leaves 3 days plus driving.

Where would you recommend to stay and which producers would you recommend to visit?

I found Maybs visit to Priorat Day trip to Priorat, Spain which i think is fantastic and could be worth getting to Barcelona a day earlier to fit in.

Rens, any recommendations? I know you have a penchant for Rioja

Hey,

In Rioja you stay in Haro and that's that. I stayed in Hotel Arrope which was fine but if you have the dough I'm sure you can find somewhere better. You walk to, in my opinion, the best wineries in Rioja. Lopez de Heredia is my favourite and has one of the most amazing cellars on the planet. They have their own cooperage and booking a tour with them is compulsory if you're interested in Spanish wine. Thing is, buying their wines from them is a ripoff. They make you buy a bunch of reserva to get access to their grand reserva wines etc. There's an awesome bottle shop in town where you can buy what you want and usually cheaper (including better back vintages).
La Rioja Alta is next door and also an incredible winery. They have nice wines available but, again, the magic bottle shop is where I found a '64 Gran Reserva 904 for a ridiculously good price (to this day, one of the best wines I've ever had).
Mugs is also there within walking distance of the hotel. If you hire a car I recommend checking out Remelluri. Nice wines and a beautiful place to hang out in.
Roda is also an interesting place to visit and they make some good wines but they are very big and seemed to be chasing American critics. They use (a lot of) French oak and are very good at that style if that's something you like. I've no doubt that with some age they'd be much more enjoyable but very different to the traditional Rioja style. Very polished winery and has obviously had a lot of money poured into it.

Anyway. Haro. Just walking from your hotel will give you the best of what Rioja has to offer.

Panda 9D wrote:Hey,

In Rioja you stay in Haro and that's that. I stayed in Hotel Arrope which was fine but if you have the dough I'm sure you can find somewhere better. You walk to, in my opinion, the best wineries in Rioja. Lopez de Heredia is my favourite and has one of the most amazing cellars on the planet. They have their own cooperage and booking a tour with them is compulsory if you're interested in Spanish wine. Thing is, buying their wines from them is a ripoff. They make you buy a bunch of reserva to get access to their grand reserva wines etc. There's an awesome bottle shop in town where you can buy what you want and usually cheaper (including better back vintages).
La Rioja Alta is next door and also an incredible winery. They have nice wines available but, again, the magic bottle shop is where I found a '64 Gran Reserva 904 for a ridiculously good price (to this day, one of the best wines I've ever had).
Mugs is also there within walking distance of the hotel. If you hire a car I recommend checking out Remelluri. Nice wines and a beautiful place to hang out in.
Roda is also an interesting place to visit and they make some good wines but they are very big and seemed to be chasing American critics. They use (a lot of) French oak and are very good at that style if that's something you like. I've no doubt that with some age they'd be much more enjoyable but very different to the traditional Rioja style. Very polished winery and has obviously had a lot of money poured into it.

Anyway. Haro. Just walking from your hotel will give you the best of what Rioja has to offer.

This is great advise. Also on your way from Haro to Barcelona go and visit Marques de Murrieta. They are 35 minutes out of town on the way and are my favourite producer. Have not been to the winery, but look forward to your report:
http://www.marquesdemurrieta.com/web/en ... -murrieta/

Some great advice here! For something a bit different, drop into Baigorri. The wines are developing (less wood than a few years ago)...but the winery is the real highlight!

Thanks guys,

Really appreciate it, looks like I'll get two full days there. So should be enough to dip my toe in.

Any recommendations for good restaurants (any must do's for lunch or dinner)

Cheers
Clive

I have to disagree with staying in Haro. Yes, it is close to some great wineries but you miss out on the tapas scene that is famous in Logroño. I would rather stay in Logroño wondering the streets of a night eating incredible food and driving out to the wineries during the day. The tapas scene in my opinion rivals that of San Sebastián and is a must do in Spain.

As far as wineries go though, I would also throw in Artadi who are one of the few in La Rioja doing single vineyard wines and giving the middle finger to the Rioja rulebook. Bodega Valenciso are doing really good and really affordable wines too, as well as being super nice people.

Priorat is an interesting place. Beautiful and totally worth visiting but you need to be prepared for rural Spain. I don't know if everyone was on holidays but nothing was ever open. Well it was, but only for certain hours on certain days. And those days sometimes change. So bring back up food just in case because I definitely went hungry a couple of times. Unless you stay in Falset, but then you are about 20-30mins away from the wineries.
When the restaurants are open though, they are cooking up amazing food. Probably just for you or maybe one other group. It doesn't really make sense how they survive out there.
Highlights for me were Clos Mogador, where obviously the wines are great but they also take you for a drive out among the vineyards. And if you have seen the terrain, you'll understand how this feels like more of a roller coaster ride than a drive in a van. Also Mas Doix was really good. Valentí is super passionate and enthusiastic about his wines and it can't help but rub off on you.

Well, I did get to Rioja, but with my usual reluctance to book too much in advance I left it quite late and unbeknownst to me got lucky as it appears a large group canceled just before I started looking for accommodation. Anyways my luck did not hold with the winery visits as only C.V.N.E could fit us in for a tour. I soon found out this was due to us being there during the "festival" - Batallo del Vino. Our travel plans meant we weren't going to be there for the main event but we figured Barcelona would always be there so plans were hastily changed and luckily due to said group cancelling late we were able to secure accommodation at the last minute which I hear is normally sold out months prior.

The festival, which as with anything in Spain is not done in moderation. This is just a huge week long party, every night in town is just a huge pub crawl. Ordering red wine gets you a glass of random crianza with most vineyards represented in most bars. However, the night before the battle it is huge, the drink of choice for most people is Kalimotxo served in 1L plastic cups (I have always thought this a waste but can vouch that its pretty tasty) and the idea is to party all night until the battle the following morning. Unfortunately I am either getting old or have become sensible but I dragged myself off to bed at about 2am to rest prior to a 6am rise.

6am and cold (roughly 10degrees) we rose, got dressed in all white with the obligatory red scarf, had a red wine and red bull (not recommended) and met up with a few people we had met the night before (our crew). Armed with boxes of cheap wine and an arsenal of weapons (5L weed sprayer, water guns, wine skins etc) and walked down to the camping area where the town had put on buses to the mountain. The locals being a lot more prepared had their own transport typically tractors pulling trailers loaded with people and a lot of wine (1000L bulk tanks) with the odd larrikin spraying you with wine from a water gun as they were past you and nullifying any chance of retaliation, I this was when we realised just how underprepared we were (I think we had about 5L of wine each). Apparently there is supposed to be a mass prior to the battle but by the time we got there things had kicked off and it was every man for themselves, our weapons (with the exception of the one guy with the weed sprayer) were like bringing knives to a gun fight. The locals were filling buckets with wine and drenching anyone who came close, even kids. We ended up ditching the weapons and just started emptying boxes of wine on others. It was cold and the wine gets in your eyes and stings like hell so its not fun for long and we left after maybe 45mins to a paddock nearby where people were just starting fires to try warm up. Walking down there is a fast flowing river of wine flowing down the road. You then catch the bus into town (we showered but it appears lots do not) and then around midday there is a procession of purple people through the town to the bull ring where they let a few heifers chase people around.

An incredible and very tiring experience and one I am glad I have done, but would make sure it is a bit quieter in Haro if I went back.

Wow, that sounds like quite an experience, and good on ya for embracing the event so warmly! There's no bloody way I would have stayed up all night either!