One of the best kept secrets of the North of Spain is the wine. Sure, the North doesn’t have the beautiful beaches and flamenco dancing of the South. However the quality wine more than makes up for it. Seeing as I now live in the North of Spain, exploring a Spanish winery was added to the bucket list for this year.
I’ll be honest and tell you that exploring a Spanish winery also wasn’t the first thing I did upon moving to La Rioja. When you live in a place, these sorts of things get pushed off for next weekend or the weekend after. However in December, we had a puente (Spanish word for when a bunch of holidays are squished together. Also the Spanish word for bridge) and my friend Sharifa used it as an opportunity to visit me. She’s teaching in Madrid this year and I think she wanted an escape from the big city. So my friend visiting was basically my excuse to finally book a visit to explore a Spanish winery.
The thing about the region I live in is that there’s no shortage of wine. This means that there’s also no shortage of wineries or bodegas as they are called in Spanish. My friend recommended that we check out Marques de Riscal. It’s the one with the funny-looking building, so I was sold. It’s technically in the Basque region, but on the border with La Rioja. So one morning while enjoying a coffee at a Logroño cafe, I booked us two tickets to visit Marques de Riscal. Bucket list item (almost) checked off!
Where is it and how to get there
Marques de Riscal is located in a small town just outside of Logroño called Elciego. We got there by bus since neither of us have a car in Spain. Finding the right bus was complicated because there are several bus companies that operate bus routes in and out of Logroño. However after some research, I found out that Álava runs a bus out to Elciego. The route is number 11 and you buy your ticket on the bus (as opposed to a ticket counter). The price was only a few euros each way.
There were maybe 4-5 buses that go out there each day. It’s absolutely doable by bus, but of course a car is the more comfortable option. You can park your car right there, making exploring a Spanish winery so much easier.
Exploring Elciego
The town of Elciego is absolutely adorable. We had two options with the bus: arrive with like one minute to get to the bodega or arrive an hour and a half early. We figured the earlier bus would allow us to explore at our own place and grab something to drink/eat.
One thing to be aware of is price. There are restaurants, but most tend to have the menu del dia that’s around 20-25 euros. We had a drink in a spot in town and then headed to the bodega for lunch.
Of course I chose to wear a dress as always to our visit. At this time of year, I paired one of my favorite dresses with a good pair of boots and my warm winter jacket. The yellow purse is my purse that goes with everything. I’ll actually be returning to Elciego in July to attend my friend’s wedding. It’s such a small world … she happened to meet and fall in love with a guy from this region of Spain while living in my hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio! They decided this town and bodega were perfect for a Spanish wedding. So I’ll have to look through my party dresses to find the perfect thing to wear to a summer Spanish wedding.
Getting into the winery
This part was rather confusing for us. We failed to find the entrance on foot and had to call the place for help! If you are on foot like us, you have to go down along where the mural is and enter from the front.
Once inside, we took a look around. There are some beautiful gardens and several restaurants. There’s also a hotel on the property.
We opted to eat in the bar inside of the hotel. The prices were higher than what I would normally pay, but also not outrageous.
The salad had pine nuts and goat cheese. It was basically to die for. I also ordered a simple club sandwich and potatoes. Overall, it was quite filling. Just what we needed before trying some wine.
The tour
I had initially signed us up for a tour in Spanish because I didn’t see any English ones available. Both my friend and I speak Spanish, and I knew she wouldn’t care. I figured that perhaps because it was the off season, they only offered tours in Spanish. However when we checked in, we were told that there was an English tour if we wanted to switch. We decided to go with the English tour because my friend thought she would be more likely to zone out on a Spanish tour.
There were maybe 10 or so people on the tour. Our tour guide took us through the entire process of how the wine is made. We started out where the grapes are grown and then were shown the vats where they are processed. They then are stored in wood barrels before the wine is bottled and sold.
Of course they save the tasting for last!
Overall, it was a good day! Towards the end of the tour, Sharifa and I ended up befriending a lovely American couple who were around our parents age. They were traveling in the region for a few weeks and had a car. They offered us a ride back to Logroño! So that was nice and allowed us to return home a bit earlier than planned!
Have you explored a winery before? What did you think of the experience?
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