La Rioja Bodegas in 2 days, on foot

This 2-day self-guided walking plan for La Rioja Bodegas covers 12 narrated sights in an easy day-by-day order. Each day is split into a morning and an afternoon loop, and every stop has a two to three minute audio story in the Gingerguide app.

You set the pace: this is a suggested order, not a schedule. Walk it in 2 days, or stretch it out. Reorder freely; La Rioja Bodegas rewards a detour.

Day 1

Morning

1. La Rioja Wine Region: The most celebrated wine region in Spain, La Rioja produces Tempranillo-based reds aged in American and French oak, from the young and vibrant Joven style to the legendary Reserva and Gran Reserva wines that age for decades and rival the great reds of Bordeaux and Burgundy.
2. Marqués de Riscal: Founded in 1858, the oldest producer of Bordeaux-style wines in Spain, Marqués de Riscal's modern complex in Elciego, designed by Frank Gehry (2006), is the most architecturally spectacular winery building in Europe, its titanium ribbons rising above the medieval stone buildings of the village.
3. CVNE: Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España: Founded in 1879 in Haro, CVNE (pronounced 'Koob-nay') is one of the great historic houses of Rioja, occupying a magnificent wine compound in the Barrio de la Estación designed in part by Gustave Eiffel, producing the Imperial and Viña Real labels that are benchmarks of the classic Rioja style.

Afternoon

1. La Rioja Alta S.A.: One of the most respected traditional Rioja producers, La Rioja Alta S.A. (founded 1890, Barrio de la Estación, Haro) is the standard-bearer for the long-aged, American oak-influenced style of classic Rioja, its 904 and 890 Gran Reserva wines achieving consistent critical acclaim.
2. R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia: The most traditional of the great Haro bodegas, López de Heredia (founded 1877) makes wines by methods unchanged since the 19th century: very long aging in enormous old barrels, lengthy bottle rest, and release only when the wines are considered ready, often 15-20+ years after the harvest.
3. Bodegas Muga: Bodegas Muga (founded 1932, Haro) is the most artisanal of the great Haro bodegas, the only bodega in Rioja to maintain cooperage on-site, making and repairing all its own barrels, and one of the few still practicing egg-white fining and gravity racking.

Day 2

Morning

1. Bodegas Ysios: Bodegas Ysios (founded 1999, Laguardia) is one of Rioja's most spectacular architectural bodegas, the wave-form building designed by Santiago Calatrava stands against the backdrop of the Sierra de Cantabria mountains and is considered one of the finest examples of contemporary wine architecture in Spain.
2. Vivanco: Museum of Wine Culture: The Vivanco Museum of Wine Culture in Briones is one of the world's great wine museums, a permanent collection of some 4,000 objects on display tracing the history of wine from the earliest human civilizations to the present day, with exhibits of ancient amphorae, medieval presses, Roman mosaics, and an extraordinary collection of corkscrews.
3. Bodegas Dinastia Vivanco: Bodegas Dinastia Vivanco produces contemporary-style Rioja wines from their estate vineyards in Briones, including a highly regarded Parcelas de Grace Tempranillo and a premium Colección Vivanco range, the winery is adjacent to the Vivanco Museum of Wine Culture and shares the family's dedication to wine education.

Afternoon

1. Granja Remelluri: La Granja Nuestra Señora de Remelluri: Remelluri is one of Rioja's oldest and most historically significant single-estate wineries, situated on the site of a medieval hermitage and monastery (Monasterio de Toloño, dating to the 12th century) near Labastida in Rioja Alavesa, it was one of the first estates in Rioja to practice estate bottling and champion single-vineyard Rioja.
2. Bodegas Bilbaínas: Viña Pomal: Bodegas Bilbaínas (founded 1901 in Haro) is one of the pioneering Basque wine houses that built the Rioja wine trade in the early 20th century, its Viña Pomal Reserva and Gran Reserva wines represent the classic Haro style, and its cellars include some of the oldest wine stocks in Rioja.
3. Bodegas Ontañón: Bodegas Ontañón (founded 1985, Quel and Logroño) is one of Rioja Oriental's most distinctive producers, its Art Nouveau-inspired bodega in Logroño contains an extraordinary collection of sculptures, mosaics, and stained glass panels dedicated to the culture of wine, making it one of the most visually spectacular wineries in Spain.

Full La Rioja Bodegas guide and all stops →