Several months ago before the big quarantine, I was driving through the countryside of La Rioja with my boyfriend (I live in La Rioja). We were discussing all the wine in La Rioja since this region is quite well-known for what it can ferment. He said there are potentially 1,000 wineries in this tiny region, from the family-owned winery in La Rioja to larger-scale operations.
It’s amazing to me that so much wine can fit in such a small region. The overachiever in me thought “1,000? I’ve only been to like 5-6! I need to get to work!” While actually visiting 1,000 wineries is nearly impossible, visiting more than one is worth your time as no two wineries are identical.
Back in February, I visited Santalba with Alex from East Coast Contessa. From the minute our visit started, I immediately felt at home. If you want to see what a down-to-earth, family-owned winery in La Rioja looks like, you definitely want to visit Santalba.
Our visit started with Laura from Santalba picking us up in Haro. Due to a small mistake on my part, I did not realize that Santalba is actually in a small town next to Haro called Gimelo. If you have a car, it’s not a far drive at all! However if you’re like us and were spending a carless weekend in Haro, the ride was much appreciated!
From the moment Laura picked us up, our visit had the most personal touch. She guided us through her family’s bodega, something that I could tell was much more than just grapes and wine to them. It’s a lifestyle for sure.
Running a family-owned winery in La Rioja is quite the job. This here is where the grapes are initially turned into wine. After we were shown around up here, Laura took us down to see where the grapes actually get fermented into wine. Be careful, though. I learned the hard way that the sulfites are quite strong.
Breathing aside, it was cool to see the wine at this stage.
Then we were walked through the rest of the winery. We saw where the wine then gets put into the barrels and then from the barrels to the bottles.
All of these will get shipped out!
After the tour came the cata, which basically just means tasting. Who doesn’t love a good wine tasting?
There are many wineries in La Rioja. However not every one can give you such a personalized tour like this family-owned winery in La Rioja. If you’re planning a visit to the region for a few days, I would definitely recommend that you pay Santalba a visit.
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