People think they know Rioja, they know the location, they know the label, they know they should swirl the glass and say something about oak and vanilla… Then they arrive.
Suddenly Rioja isn’t a style, it’s weather, dusty roads and old farm houses surrounded by stone walls. Grandmothers hanging laundry, tiny villages with little bars where everyone knows who owns which vineyard and who harvested too early this year. The wine starts making a lot more sense once you’ve met the people who refuse to rush it, and it turns out oak barrels don’t tell the whole story, farmers usually do.
Rioja doesn’t ask for your attention, it simply assumes you’ll slow down eventually. You might begin the day intending to visit three wineries. By lunchtime you’ve managed one, shared a bottle with the owner, been invited into the cellar, and somehow found yourself discussing roasted lamb racks, lack of rainfall and whether modern architecture belongs anywhere near a vineyard.
This is how Rioja works, schedules become mere suggestions, one glass becomes four, and every conversation ends with someone insisting you haven’t tasted the real Rioja yet and the funny thing is … they’re usually right.
Haro, Rioja
If wine had a Wall Street, this would be it.
Haro is where the famous names built their reputations long before wine became fashionable. Within a few minutes’ walk you can wander from centuries-old cellars to legendary labels—CVNE, López de Heredia, Muga, La Rioja Alta, Roda. It’s almost unfair how much wine history fits into a handful of streets.
Yes, it’s touristy.
It should be.
Great places attract people for a reason.
Spend the afternoon wandering between cellars, pretending you’re there to study terroir when you’re really just enjoying yourself, then head for the terrace at Muga, order a glass from a vintage you’d never justify buying by the bottle and remind yourself that wine is supposed to be drunk—not admired from a distance.
If your Rioja journey continues beyond Haro, drive towards Logroño and ignore the GPS once or twice. Around here, taking the wrong road is usually the right decision. Every bend seems to hide another family winery, another cellar door, another conversation worth having.
Skip the high-way and take the narrow country roads they will take your Rioja feeling to another level. On the way to Logroño you will pass Labastida and Laguardia and some of the world’s best wineries. Your only problem is to choose which ones to visit.
However, not every producer welcomes visitors, and that’s perfectly fine. There is enough of Bodegas with wine tourism tours and there is local wineshops that can help you save precious time if you’re looking for wines you couldn’t find in your local shop back home.
One is Landa Vinoteca in Labastida, where the shelves are packed with great local wines and service is well educated and friendly.
Afterwards, I always walk next door to Kafe Bola Lekv and order a sandwich with Iberian ham, manchego cheese and a cold beer, totat cost is about €5. You’ll leave wondering why some of the best value experiences are the ones nobody bothered to advertise. Its also supports your travel budget when it’s so easy to spend to much in every wineshop.
Rioja isn’t only built by famous wineries, it’s built by roads and villages between them filled with authentic bars and restaurants and it’s there you can get the true insider tips of its culinary heritage, if you’re open minded and willing to listen.
Postcard from Spain: The view from Bodegas Eugen Ugarte is probably the best in La Rioja, and if you like it, stay, they have both, bars, a hotel and several restaurants.
Notebook finds: Breakfast is great at the Eurostars Los Augustinos Hotel (Haro). Mesón Alai in Labastida for lunch, best place if you want to see some of the local winemakers.
Local food pairing: La Rioja has never felt the need to impress you with complicated food. When your vegetables come from the fertile Ebro valley, your stews have been perfected over generations, and your vineyards stretch to every horizon, showing off seems unnecessary.
The cooking is straightforward, generous, and deeply satisfying. A plate of beans, grilled lamb, roasted peppers, good bread, and a bottle of Rioja will teach you more about this region than any tasting note ever could.
Sometimes the best meal isn’t the one with the most courses. It’s the one that makes you order another bottle.
Here is a shortlist of what you want to look for to avoid ordering like a tourist:
- Patatas a la Riojana: Potato and chorizo stew.
- Chuletillas al Sarmiento: Lamb chops grilled over grapevines.
- Caparrones: Rich red kidney bean stew.
- Bacalao a la Riojana: Cod in a tomato-pepper sauce.
- Menestra de Verduras: Seasonal mixed vegetable stew.
- Pimientos del Piquillo: Flame-roasted sweet red peppers.
- Queso Camerano: Artisanal mountain goat cheese.
- Fardalejos: Crisp almond-filled puff pastry.
- Peras al Vino: Pears poached in Rioja red wine.
One bottle, one story: Remelluri Grand Reserva
Naturally, all famous wineries produce excellent wines, but I deeply admire the philosophy of the Rodriquez family. In 1971, Remelluri became the first modern single-vineyard (monopole) estate in Rioja, breaking away from the traditional practice of blending grapes from different regions.
The property is today run by the legendary Spanish viniculturist Telmo Rodríguez, who is widely praised for his focus on organic farming, biodynamic treatments, and low-intervention wine making.
The Terroir: Located in the Rioja Alavesa sub-region at the foot of the Sierra de Toloño mountains. These are some of the highest-altitude vineyards in Rioja (up to 805 meters), giving the wines an exceptionally elegant, fresh, and complex profile.
Granja Gran Reserva: Sourced exclusively from the estate’s oldest vines (mainly Tempranillo, Garnacha, and Graciano). It spends over two years in oak casks and a minimum of 6 years aging in the cellar before release.
The wine is pricy, but still good value compared to many Bordeaux and Bourgogne wines. The Remelluri Reserva is a great alternative, an so is all other wines from Telmo Rodriquez.
SG Spanish Wine Diary – Stefan Gahlin
Useful links:
Rioja Official Website: https://riojawine.com/en-gb/
Spain Official Tourist Website: https://www.spain.info/en/