A Short Tour of Rioja

 We wanted to see as much of Rioja as we could fit into a day so planned to drive to Haro, the capital of the area then on through the vineyards to Logrono and return through the hills back to Vitoria. Most of the Bodegas were fully booked but we did manage to reserve a place in a city winery which seemed a bit unusual but was easy to fit in.

The drive there was a delight; windy, but largely empty, roads that snaked up and down through the hills. The countryside was sensational, mountains stretching away into the distance fading into shades of blue. Fertile plains with all sorts of agricultural activity alongside the roads. A succession of small towns, every one with a church, most with highly attractive, gloriously embellished, steeples.

Haro was surrounded by Bodegas, one of the largest being Cune. We stopped in the square for a coffee and a short exploration although being Sunday not much was open. The style of the buildings was similar to that we found attractive in Malta, wooden window bays that jutted out, overhanging the streets. A delightful place to spend an hour, shame we couldn't see more of this attractive, ancient town.

Logrono was less than an hour away, even if you took the scenic route, and not particularly memorable. Each field of vines seemed much the same as we'd seen many times before. The town was unexpectedly large but we made our way in, parking close to the Arizcuren Bodega just in time for the tour, or rather talk as it's not very large. The owner was an architect, this was his pet project, niche, possibly more interesting than commercial. Apparently in the past much wine was made in the town this way on a relatively small scale. He owned several small vineyards amounting to about 20 hectares in total, all high up in the surrounding hills. The philosophy was that if the vines suffer, the wine would be of great quality and that certainly was the case. We tasted four different wines, garnacha and masuelzo rather than the Tempranillo that was grown in quantity lower down. All excellent, combining fruitiness with pleasing acidity and complexity.

The talk took up most of the afternoon and was really interesting covering many details such as the concrete vats and how making wine in an amphora changes the character. This meant we were short of time and unable to see much more of the town, which was a shame, down by the river it had looked rather attractive. Reluctantly we made our way up over the mountains back to the hotel and another rather ordinary dinner.