My visit to Rioja, Spain's wine capital

Hello friends. In this post I would like to tell you about a visit I made to Spain's famous wine region Rioja, in the north of the country. Of course, as always I visited the most interesting places and enjoyed these amazing postcard worthy views. I will not skip mentioning modern architecture either, because there is really so much to see here. We started our journey in a small town called Haro. Haro is literally the capital of Rioja. Some of the most famous wineries here were founded in the middle of the nineteenth century. So why were they founded here? Because a train station was built here. And all these historical wineries gathered around the train station. The name of this district is already Barrio de la Estacion, meaning the Station Quarter. The thing is, the wines produced here needed to be distributed. Inside Spain and of course to France. So everyone tried to locate as close as possible to the transport hub.

We saw perhaps one of the most well known wineries located in Haro. Its name is Muga. This place is relatively young, founded in nineteen thirty-two. Muga is actually the surname of the owners, meaning it is a family business. Mainly red wine is produced here, after all Rioja is mainly famous for its red wines made from the Tempranillo grape. But they also make wonderful white wines alongside it. You can join a tour here. But we did not do that because we have already joined countless winery tours in the region up until today. As for wine tasting it is best to do this not in the tasting room here, but on the private terrace. As you can imagine, this is an absolutely magnificent location for a healthy breakfast.

We continued our trip and arrived at the Vivanco winery. I should mention that this place regularly enters the list of the world's top fifty wineries. Probably not for nothing, because there is an absolutely fascinating Museum of Wine Culture here. Perhaps the best museum I have seen so far. Definitely the largest and it has a very rich collection. Naturally the story of the eight thousand year mutual love between humans and wine is told here. Of course, all processes related to this are also exhibited. Primarily the cultural process and secondly the craft, meaning how wine is produced. All its stages are shown in great detail. A large number of different tools and equipment used to produce this wonderful drink in the past and present are on display.

I really liked it. The corkscrew colection is really incredible. And alongside it, although perhaps not as large, the collection of various vessels in which wine was consumed or served is just as fantastic. In summary a really awesome museum, I definitely recommend it.

In general this region is a small village called Briones and this place is also quite famous for its wineries. Not only Vivanco, but Vivanco brings together a multifaceted experience intertwined with history, culture and art. Because a very unusual sculpture composition called Thank You Mom was placed on the grass here. I think it was dedicated to Vivanco's mother. What makes it unusual is the use of old grapevines. It was painted in a terracotta color and it looks really striking in this installation.

Also a few words should be said about the structure of Rioja. Because Rioja is divided into different regions, just like Bordeaux or Burgundy. The first is Rioja Alta , the cooler region where Haro is located. There is Rioja Alavesa, the part towards the mountains where the soil is more chalky. And there is Rioja Oriental, which is warmer, where the wines are naturally fuller bodied and more intense.

I suppose the question how on earth did the Spaniards suddenly start supplying wine to France must be on your mind. After all, Bordeaux is right under our noses if you look on the map. As you will remember, a terrible event occurred in Bordeaux in the nineteenth century.A phylloxera outbreak started and the vineyards began to dry up. At that time, many entrepreneurs set their eyes on this region, because this place was also quite interesting and very favorable for wine production. They came here, including French investors.

It was these investors who put money into the development of winemaking in the region and thanks to this, today we have such a wonderful wine region. So there is definitely a very suitable terroir and a great climate for growing grapes here. However, this situation, which was a disaster on the other side of the border, turned into an opportunity for this place and allowed Rioja to become known all over the world. By the way, it also holds a leading position in the world in terms of production volume.

Another highlight of the Vivanco winery is the Ampelographic Garden, also known as the Garden of Bacchus. Here there are vines belonging to two hundred twenty different grape varieties brought from all four corners of the world. I think this is also quite interesting.

I have read a lot, seen a lot and even mentioned in my post where I talked about the works of the famous Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava about the winery I am going to talk about now, Ysios winery. Ysios is a very interesting name. An abbreviation made up of the names of the Egyptian gods Isis and Osiris. So the gods responsible for life and rebirth. At the end of the nineties, the property owner wanted to revive the glory of Rioja Alavesa and invited Santiago Calatrava to build a winery. It must be said that Calatrava did an excellent job. He built a structure that does not try to dominate the surroundings, but on the contrary emphasizes the landscape. The building itself almost directly mimics the silhouette of the mountains behind it thanks to its undulating roof. The roof is covered with aluminum and the facade with cedar wood. The building has a linear plan about two hundred meters long and this was not done purely out of aesthetic concern. Receiving, procesing, fermenting, resting and storing the grapes take place in sequence. If you reserve a table at the bar located in the cellar where the wine barrels are stored, you can see the storage area yourself as well. I think this is also a very nice detail.

Of course Calatrava, as in many of his other projects, was criticized and received complaints because the roof leaked water in some places in this project as well (it is still possible to see these traces). However, the building itself is absolutely fascinating with its silhouette and aesthetic posture. It is a really great structure and I am very happy that I was finally able to come here.

Then we moved on to the town called Elciego. Another landmark building is located here, Marqués de Riscal winery. More precisely, the building itself is not the winery, but the hotel building located next to the winery. The winery itself is quite old, founded in eighteen fifty-eight. The property owners decided to create a cultural complex called City of Wine here and invited Gehry to build the hotel. The hotel is decorated with colorful ribbons and these colors were not chosen by chance. Pink is the color of rosé wine, gold is the color of the signature net decorating the Marqués de Riscal bottles and silver is the capsule color of the bottles. There are vineyard tours, cafes, shops and so on here. To approach the hotel, you either need to book a tour or get a room. The price of the room is quite serious, it must be said. Still, I recommend it, because the interiors I saw when I first came here, at least the common areas impresed me very much.

The last winery we wanted to visit was Marqués de Murrieta. This is also a very old business, founded in eighteen fifty-two. What makes this place different is that it is essentially a classic French chateau. Of course they call it a castillo here, Castillo Ygay. Ygay is the name of the estate formerly located here. As can be understood from the name, this business belongs to the Murrieta family. It has a very beautiful view, historical cellars and the historical building of the chateau. There is also a wine bar where you can taste wine and eat various snacks.

Thus we saw all kinds of wine businesses in Rioja. Both modern architecture and historical architecture. Muga, that classic winemaking cluster around the train station. Murrieta, a classic castillo and on the other side, there is modern architecture. On one side Ysios emphasizing the landscape, on the other side Marqués de Riscal standing out from the landscape. And there is another type of architecture. The business named Baigorri. There, the architecture completely integrates with the landscape, because from the outside you only see a glass pavilion. The winery itself is almost buried inside the hillside and you cannot see it. In that glass pavilion, various exhibitions are organized, which I think is quite nice.

We finished this small trip of ours in Rioja back in the town of Haro, in the central square named Plaza de la Paz, meaning Peace square. It is really very peaceful and lovely here. There is the town hall here, barrels of the region's famous wineries are standing, the sounds of the local church bells can be heard a little further ahead. And a wonderful kiosk or buffet was set up in the middle of the square. The atmosphere is really very relaxed, it even has a bit of a resort town vibe.

What else needs to be said? In June, the famous Wine Battle takes place in the town of Haro. A festival where people dressed in white run around all over the city and pour wine on each other. A full fifty thousand liters of red wine is poured. And naturally that white mass suddenly turns pink. One day I will go to an event like this too, because I think pink would suit me as well.

For my part, I hope you enjoyed this little trip and noted down interesting places you will definitely visit. See you on the next trip.