HEAD north from Madrid on the A1 highway for four hours and you will arrive in the heart of Spain’s most celebrated wine region: Rioja.
There’s history here too. Archeological excavations have dated finds back to prehistoric times and medieval towns and old Riojan manor houses abound. Most visitors to Rioja prefer to fly into Bilbao (home of architect Frank Gehry’s renowned Guggenheim Museum) and take the easy, shorter drive (90 minutes) to reach Rioja’s capital city on the banks of the Ebro River, Logroño.
Logroño is not only the gateway to wine and gastronomy; it is the cultural crossroads that reflects the history of Rioja. Here, Castille culture meets Basque. The famous Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route passes through Logroño.
While Rioja is famous for its great wine, its history and architecture are also well worth discovering. This is the 16th century Church of San Servando y San German in the town of Arnedillo. – Wikimedia Commons Every year, since ancient times, pilgrims trek 750km from the French/Spanish border to the medieval city of Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain. These days, the route is still no less travelled, though more by secular tourists wanting to experience a challenging but picturesque journey that takes in archaeological sites with influences from Roman, Arabic and Iberian times.
Feed mind and body
Make Logroño your base and spend the day visiting palaces, castles, old city walls and the famed Market Square. Delight in homemade pastries and then do what the locals do, enjoy a siesta. By eight, it’s time for tapas.
The Casco Viejo quarter is world-famous for its numerous tapas bars. Each specialises in a tapas (from tortillas and shrimp to asparagus and mushrooms), so bar hopping is the name of the game here.
Some unusual tapas include “Wonder Bra”, a sunny-side up pair of quails’ eggs. For the brave, there are bull’s testicles and sheep’s ears. Try Pimiento de Padrón, chilli fried whole, for a culinary Russian roulette experience. While most pods are mild, one in five is surprisingly hot.
Make sure to check out the tapas bars in Logrono. – Photo by EDWIN SOON Wash them down with sangria or a chilled pink Rioja.
Reserve some space for Galician tapas (called pinxtos), all manner of seafood served on a stick. And the best thing about tapas is that prices begin at €1.5 (RM6.45).
From Logroño, one could hire a car or join a bus tour to begin your wine trails.
Alternatively, a whimsical way to travel is by train, for just €12 (about RM50), that journeys through the towns of Briones or Haro. From both towns, wineries are just a short walk away.
In September every year, the same ride is dubbed El Tren del Vino (The Wine Train) and the rail journey becomes part of the El Rioja y los 5 Sentidos (Rioja and the 5 Senses) festival that includes art exhibitions, jazz concerts, bicycle-picnics, wine tasting and more.
Haro is the capital of the sub-region of Rioja Alta and home to many important wineries. Must-visits include R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia and the Bodegas La Rioja Alta. The former, founded in 1877, uses the most traditional methods of winemaking, and here you’ll find delightful old wines for tasting, all with nutty overtones.
Soak in the history of the cellars filled with antique oak barrels. Visit the cellar door where mature wines can be had for a delightfully reasonable price.
Across the road from Viña Tondonia is the Rioja Alta, another iconic winery, famous for its Gran Reservas (special reserves). The winery interior is equally impressive and boasts a beautiful modern-meets-traditional cellar door. Besides wine, conserves and chocolates can be enjoyed here too.
The Logroño municipal market in Plaza Abastos abounds with gourmet olive oils, dried chilli peppers of all shapes and sizes, some piquantly hot, others mild and mellow.
Chorizo, the fermented, cured and smoked sausage is a popular take-home gift for tourists as well as the jamón Ibérico, the world-famous cured ham. If it is all too much to pack, then consider a small tin of powdered Pimenton – the smoked paprika containers are small, light, and make unique presents.
Wine wonderland
In Briones, you’ll find the modern museum of Dinastia Vivanco. Here, the culture of wine is presented in a building with four floors together with a living vineyard nursery.
Its vine collection is impressive, as it’s from the world over, and includes the Kyushu grape and the Chinese Bei Chun. A must-stop for wine lovers, wine students and even just the wine curious.
Afterwards, be sure to visit the cellar reminiscent of a space ship. The lunches in the restaurant are served hot and epicurean.
Rioja’s famous red (tinto) wines are made from Tempranillo grapes with sometimes Garnacha, and also a little Mazuelo and Graciano. These wines are aged in oak and often have a beautiful scent of ripe cherries with vanilla.
There are also Rioja whites (blanco), made from Viura that tastes refreshingly of citrus with floral characteristics. And there are the pink (rosado) wines that are juicy and thirst-quenching.
Choose your Rioja by quality classification:
Joven – Young, fresh and for quaffing, the locals’ wine and a real bargain; seldom exported.
Vino de Crianza – This is aged 12 to 18 months in oak and is well priced; it has good body and a fine finish.
Reserva – These are wines aged up to two years in oak and another two years in bottle. They are rich, concentrated, complex and medium priced.
Gran Reserva – These are aged up to three years in oak and another three years in bottle. And definitely for special occasions.
Unlike other wine producing countries, most of Rioja red wines are pre-aged and so offers the discriminating drinker excellent value.
Wineries to visit:
Bodegas Darien; Bodegas La Emperatriz; Bodegas Lan; Bodegas Marqués de Murrieta; Bodegas Roda; Bodegas Viña Herminia; Marqués de Cáceres; Óbalo; Palacios Remondo; Señorío de San Vicente.
by Ed Soon.
Ed Soon is a qualified oenologist and has run wine shops and worked as a winemaker in various countries. He now writes and teaches about wine around Asia.
Source: http://kuali.com/news/story.aspx?file=/2010/10/10/ku_entertaining/7092452&sec=ku_entertaining
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