Visiting La Rioja for wine tourism is an incredible experience. You can’t possibly understand the famous Rioja wine region without seeing it for yourself — the tiny plots of vines, the dozens of centuries-old family-run wineries, the amazing modern architecture, the golden-hued leaves in fall.
The best way to see if for yourself is to check out a few of the must-visit bodegas in Rioja.
There are hundreds of bodegas in Rioja to visit and they are spread out over three principle zones – Alavesa, Alta and Baja. The area is so large, you would have to play darts with a Rioja wine map to decide where to go.
We’ve done some of the work for you and offer up this list of the wineries where we found the best Rioja wine, because when it comes down to it, it’s all about the wine!
This is no where near a comprehensive list, but if you’re doing your own planning, it’s a great place to start. Remember that you must book a wine tasting appointment at a winery at least 2 days in advance (more is better). Most bodega websites have information in English on how to book, either by email, phone, or online form.
We suggest email if you’re doing it yourself. We never get much response from submitting the form online. You also need to be flexible if you want an English tour, because they aren’t always offered. Tour and tasting at each winery ranges in price from €5-€20 and include a tasting of 2-4 generous pours of wine.
Planning your trip to Rioja?
Where to Stay in Rioja:
- Marques de Riscal ⇒ Read reviews on Trip Advisor.
- Hotel Viura ⇒ Read reviews on Trip Advisor.
- Hotel Calle Mayor ⇒ Read reviews on Trip Advisor.
Best Tours and Experiences in Rioja:
- Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa Wine Tour – Experience the best of Rioja’s winemaking traditions with a guided tour covering Rioja, Rioja Alavesa, and Rioja Alta.
- Rioja with the owner of a winery – Embark on an immersive wine tour in Rioja, guided by the owner of La Bodega del Tesoro winery, exploring scenic landscapes while tasting wines at 3 selected wineries.
- Full-Day Private Cultural and Gastronomic Adventure in Rioja – Embark on a private full-day Rioja Wine Tasting and Lunch Tour from San Sebastián, with guided tastings at two wineries, vineyard tours, and a delectable 5-course lunch paired with regional wines.
Planning a Rioja wine trip? Here's more
Book a Tour
You probably don’t want to drive yourself around while wine tasting (unless you’re a good sip and spitter), so here are a few recommended wine tours you can take instead. Keep in mind that it’s expensive.
If you’re already in the area, we recommend this full-day Rioja private tour. You will be picked up and accompanied by a local expert to four wineries, plus lunch and a stop in Laguardia. The cost varies depending on how many people are in your group. For 2 people, it’s around €280/pp.
If you’re in San Sebastian, we can recommend this Rioja Wine Hopping Tour. It includes pick up in San Sebastian, four Rioja wineries and lunch. The cost is €285/pp.
Customized wine tour in la rioja
Let someone else do the driving. Rioja in Style, can design a private guided tour in La Rioja, tailored to your preferences. Request a tour to the wineries we suggest or ask them to tailor-make a tour for you. Book at least a week in advance. Cost for 2 people is $400/pp.
[Maria’s] knowledge and passion for the region and its rich culture allowed us to get to know La Rioja and enjoy learning its history. We highly recommend her guided tours if you want to experience a totally unique journey…. — Carmen Pérez-Pozo
11 Must-Visit Bodegas in Rioja
You can easily visit three wineries in a day, plus lunch. Four would be pushing it, but if you plan it right, it can be done. If you want to lay out the best path, put all of these bodegas into Google Maps so you can see where they are before you start planning them out.
Always make sure you’re traveling responsibly between wineries. Choose a designated driver, or sip and spit — but also make sure you’re properly refueling between stops. There are a bunch of bodegas that serve wine lunches (see below for details), but one of our favorite things to do in the area is a pinchos crawl in Logrono, which can be done during lunch from 1-3pm. If you need some tasty ideas, here’s a list of the top foods to eat in Spain.
Keep reading below for more information on how to get to the Rioja wine region and where to stay.
Muga
Located in the town of Haro, Muga offers many experiences from hot-air balloon rides, to private tours and wine classes. The modern building has a great wine store where you can buy gifts and wine and enjoy a tasting flight at the bar.
They offer daily tours, but you don’t have to take a tour to try the wine, which is great if you want to make it to some other wineries in Haro in one day. Muga is close walking distance to the other Haro bodegas mentioned here, so you can easily park your car and walk between them.
Website: https://www.bodegasmuga.com/
Location: Barrio de la Estación s/n 26200 Haro
Phone: +34 941.306060
Lopez de Heredia
One of the oldest wineries in Haro, Lopez de Heredia now features an interesting juxtaposition of the old and new winery experience. You can tour through the old part of the winery, which has been receiving visitors since 1886, then taste the wines in the space-age looking room built by Zaha Hadid (that’s the decanter shaped building on the left).
The winery is located just 100 steps up the hill from Muga and you can also taste wines here without a tour.
Website: https://www.lopezdeheredia.com/
Address: Avda. de Vizcaya, 3, 26200 Haro
Phone: +34 941 31 02 44
Roda
Again, just another 100 steps up the hill is Roda, another of the old wineries of Haro. The modern tasting room here leads down into the underground cellar that is built into the hillside.
If you go just for tasting, you can take your glass down into the opening of the cellar for a view (it`s closed off by a fence, so you can’t actually go in – just peek through), otherwise you can see the underground cellars on a full tour. Roda specializes in Tempranillo. They also sell a plate of Jamon Iberico to go along with the tasting.
Website: https://roda.es/
Address: Av. Vizcaya, 5, 26200 Haro
Phone: +34 941 30 30 01
Dinastia Vivanco
Located in the small town of Briones, Dinastia Vivanco is a complete wine tourism destination. There is a bodega and plenty of wine, but there’s also a restaurant and a wine museum. And you won’t want to miss any of them.
If you have enough time, you can book a tour for 11am, lunch at 12:30 and then spend a couple hours in the museum afterward, but you don’t have to do all three. We skipped the tour and chose to enjoy a wine-tasting lunch, followed by the museum.
There is an audio guide that narrates the journey through the museum that is highly recommended. Check out the options for lunch. This is one of the only wine pairing lunches in the area.
Website: https://vivancoculturadevino.es/es/
Address: Carretera Nacional 232, 26330 Briones
Phone: +34 941 32 23 23
Bodegas Ysios
Architecturally, Bodegas Ysios is one of the most stunning winery buildings I’ve ever seen. It was designed by renowned architect Santiago Calatrava, as a symbol of the new Rioja. It’s meant to mimic the rolling Sierra de Cantabria mountain range behind it.
Visiting Ysios includes a walk through the modern interior of the building, into the beautiful and sprawling modern cellar, along with a tasting of three of their wines in the upstairs tasting room.
From upstairs, you can look out the windows at the mountains. Even if you don’t stop here for wine tasting, I highly recommend stopping for pictures. You do need an appointment to visit this winery.
Website: https://www.pernodricardbodegas.com/
Address: La Hoya Bidea, s/n, 01300 Guardia
Phone: +34 945 60 06 40
Eguren Ugarte
Located just outside the old town of Laguardia, Eguren Ugarte is a family-owned winery that was built with passion and dedication by Victorino Eguren Ugarte, and is carried on by the next generation.
The tour of the winery is absolutely fascinating and cannot be missed. You’ll wonder through what seem like ancient underground caves where patrons of the winery can keep their personal stash of wine and stop by to enjoy it in the cellar.
Believe me, you’ll be wishing you had your own private wine locker. It’s really awesome in there. If you don’t want to do a full tour, you can stop by for a tasting only. You can also reserve a lunch or dinner in their restaurant.
Website: https://egurenugarte.com/en/
Address: A-124, Km 61, 01309 Guardia
Phone: +34 945 60 07 66
Viña Real
Located just outside of Laguardia, Viña Real is part of a larger brand, Cvne, founded in 1920 to promote Rioja wines. The winery, designed by Bordeaux-based architect Phillipe Mazieras, is located atop the Cerra de la Mesa, with a fantastic view of the valley below.
It’s a great representation of the Alavesa wineries, which are really starting to embrace modern architecture and gravity-based production.
Website: https://www.cvne.com/tp-bodega/cvne/
Address: Km 4.8, 01300 Laguardia
Phone: +34 945 62 52 55
Luis Cañas
Luis Cañas, located in the small town of Villabuena de Alava, is a family-run bodega that dates back to 1928. They own many acres of their own estate grapes, which leads to the specialized cultivation of their best wines.
It is among the top wineries in Rioja Alavesa and has won many International awards. It’s distributed widely in Spain and other countries, as well, so it may be easier to find than other smaller-production wines when you return home. Tours are given daily with prior appointment.
On a side note, Luis Canas is located very close to our top recommended hotel: Hotel Viura. If you`re looking for a really great place to stay with a wine theme and very nice, modern rooms, definitely check it out.
Website: https://www.luiscanas.com/
Address: Carretera de Samaniego, 10, 01307 Villabuena
Phone: +34 945 62 33 73
Marques de Riscal
Another architecturally stunning bodega to visit is Marques de Riscal. The Luxury Collection hotel on the property in Elciego was designed by world-renown architect and is definitely the place to stay for a luxury experience.
The winery was founded in 1858 produces more than 3 million bottles of red wine per year, making it one of the oldest and one of the largest wineries in Rioja.
It can be overrun with tourists, but it’s still worth it to take the tour of the old underground facility and see the hotel up close. There’s also a Michelin-star restaurant on site.
Website: https://www.marquesderiscal.com/en
Address: Calle Torrea Kalea, 1, 01340 Elciego
Phone: (34) 945 180880
Ostatu
Located in Samaniego, Ostatu was founded in the 1960s and has been family run and operated ever since. The winery building is attached to a mansion that was once used as an Inn, and will once again in the near future (we would definitely recommend staying there, if possible).
Visiting Ostatu includes a tour of the production facility and an introduction to three of the bodega’s popular wines along with an appetizer. Be sure to make an appointment in advance. This is isn’t generally a place you can just walk in for a tasting.
Website: https://ostatu.com/
Address: Carretera de Vitoria, 1, 01307 Samaniego
Phone: +34 945 60 91 33
Bodegas Baigorri
Across the street from Ostatu is the towering glass facade of Baigorri, designed by architect Inaki Azpiazu, that stretches 7-stories underground. The facility was designed for vertical, gravity-based wine making and you can view the entire process from one floor — the floors are all open in the center so you can see each tier of the process. They also have an impressive barrel room.
Baigorri serves a multi-course wine lunch which most midday visitors take advantage of. Each course is served with one of their delicious wines. Plan to visit at 11am and stay for lunch at 1pm. If you’re not staying for lunch, you’ll taste a few of the wines following the tour. (Lunch is not offered every day, so check in advance.)
Website: https://www.bodegasbaigorri.com/
Address: 01307 Samaniego
Phone: +34 945 60 94 20
How to Get To La Rioja
La Rioja is located in the northern part of Spain, about 4 hours north of Madrid. The closest airport to La Rioja is in Bilbao, which is located at the north end of the Rioja valley. From there, it’s easy to get around to all parts of the valley via car.
A great place to start your wine journey in Rioja is in Haro, where the historic wine houses are located. Continuing east will take you into Laguardia, a small, but charming walled town, and then to Logrono, the capitol city of the region.
If you fly into Madrid and rent a car, the journey will take you through another well-known wine region, the Ribera del Duero, which is one of our favorite wines to drink. After a stop off there to try the wines, it’s just another short jaunt up the freeway to the beginning of the Rioja wine valley.
Don’t be worried about driving in this area. Roads are well maintained and marked and there’s often little to no traffic. Of course, you’ll have to designate a driver who won’t be drinking.
Plenty of tour companies run tours through the area, so if you’re not into driving and scheduling visits yourself, you can easily get hooked up with a tour company and do it the easy way.
Where to Stay in La Rioja
When we visit La Rioja, we like to be right in the middle of the action so we can quickly and easily get to the wineries without having to do a lot of driving. But there are so many incredible places to stay in La Rioja ← That’s our comprehensive list if you want to read all about the hotels listed below!
You can read more reviews or book directly using our affiliate links:
- Unique luxury experience: Marques de Riscal — Book here | Read reviews
- Affordable luxury, modern in a quiet setting: Hotel Viura — Book here | Read reviews
- City hotel, walking distance pinchos bars: Hotel Calle Mayor — Book here | Read reviews
- Incredible gastronomic experience: Echaurren Hotel — Book here | Read reviews
Touring around the wineries in the La Rioja wine region of Spain is one of our absolutely favorite things. It’s one of the only places we’ve been back to, specifically because we loved it so much.
If you love Spanish wine, you should also check out the Ribera del Duero wine region, about 2 hours south of Rioja. Amazing wines there!
>> Book this Hot Air Balloon Flight over the vineyards of the Rioja Wine Country here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which wineries to visit in Rioja?
The best wineries to visit in Rioaja include; Muga, Lopez de Heredia, Roda, Dinastia Vivanco, Bodegas Ysio, Eguren Ugarte, Viña Real, Luis Cañas, Marques de Riscal, and Ostatu.
What is Rioja best known for?
Rioja is best known for its high-quality wines, especially red wines made from the Tempranillo grape variety. The region is one of the most renowned wine-producing areas in Spain and is famous for its rich and flavorful Rioja wines.
What is the main town in Rioja?
The main town in the Rioja wine region is Logroño. It is the capital of the La Rioja province and serves as one of the region’s major centers for wine production and commerce.
CONCLUSION
La Rioja is one of our favorite wine regions to visit. The views of the vineyards is unlike anywhere else and the wine has a delicious way of tempting you to have just one more glass. We can’t get enough of it.
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Have you been there? What are your favorite bodegas in the Rioja wine region?
Be Prepared For Travel
Planning is the most important part of any successful trip. Do it the easy way:
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- Find and book the best hotel (our favorite booking site is Expedia)
- Research flight options (our favorite tool is Skyscanner)
- Book a tour (we always use Viator to find the best tours)
- Rent a car through Discover Cars (they search the best deals for you!)
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Laura Lynch, creator and writer of Savored Journeys, is an avid world traveler, certified wine expert, and international food specialist. She has written about travel and food for over 20 years and has visited over 75 countries. Her work has been published in numerous guidebooks, websites, and magazines.
Hi Nick and Laura-Just back from our northern spain trip. I based our 1.5 day trip around La rioja on your article. I think it sums up the Bodegas beautifully. We ended up visiting Luis Canas and the must Marques de Riscal. On our second tour I understood that we covered the basics with these 2. Tried to book dinner at Baigorri but I guess I was a bit late for that so we skipped it. The person I exchanged emails with recommended us Hector Oribe’s restaurant. that was also so good.
Also as we travelled with our 10 yr old this was the maximum we could do.
In addition to these we stayed in http://www.echaurren.com/ for 2 nights. It is like 30 mins drive from the centre but lovely hotel and a great restaurant(3 restaurants actually)
wanted to drop this note to say thank you 🙂
cheers
Lale
Hi Lale – I’m so glad you came back to let us know that you’d done this trip! How exciting. Don’t you just love that area? We were hoping to go to Echaurren last time we were there for dinner, but didn’t make it. We’ll be going back in November, so I’ll definitely book it this time. So glad you had a great time on your trip and enjoyed these wineries!
Hi Laura
I am travelling through Logrono as part of Camino and would like to do a wine tour in Logrono .
Any advise ? We are staying in Logrono for one night on our way back.we are travelling early June
What do you think of the wine tours that are advertised on trip advisor I thought they seemed rather expensive.
I enjoyed reading your articles and definately will do the pinchos crawl!!!
Would appreciate your advice
Regards
Mary Clarke
Hi Mary! Definitely do the pinchos crawl. You can try so many of the wines on the crawl in small portions. If you have a car, I recommend doing your own tour, because as you say, guided tours are expensive, and it’s really easy to do yourself. There are a few wineries in Logrono that I recommend going to: Marques de Murrieta, Franco Espanolas, Campo Viejo and Vina Real. You can arrange visits through email, or have a hotel concierge set it up. Even if you don’t have a car, you can get to these easily by taxi. Have fun! Let me know if you need any more info.
Hi Laura, a lot of these wineries look very modern. Which one would you recommend for a more old world, authentic feel? Thanks!
Hi Daniela, Some of them are modern, but many of them aren’t. Lopez de Heredia is quite old and has a fantastic cellar tour that showcases it. So does CVNE, and Roda, down the street. Eguren Ugarte is new, but their cellars are very impressive. Marques de Riscal has a new, modern facility, but they still show you around their very old cellars too.
I want to thank you for this forum of information. I took it with me to my wonderful 2 day stay at the Eguren Ugarte hotel. We visited Ostatu, Bai Gorri, Dinastia Vivianco, Marques De Riscal, Ysios, Luis Canas, & the city of Longrono. Let me tell you that the best advice of all was visiting Bai Gorri for lunch. Its a 3 course meal with 3 wines to taste and totally worth it. You should call ahead if you want to just eat lunch. It wasn’t hard to get in, we were 1 of 4 other couples eating lunch on a Thursday.
I would say I’m semi experienced within different wine varieties and encourage my fellow wine enthusiasts to save Ysios, Vivianco & Marques De Riscal for the end, as locations to admire for well put together bodegas (wineries). I found the best tasting wines at Ostatu, Bai Gorri & Luis Canas. Ostatu has your whites and reds that are amazing indescribable, we did a tasting of the Singular wines. Your full bodied reds that are worth the tasting flight were found at Luis Canas and BaiGorri. I can not wait to go back and try the other bodegas on this list. Although we were staying at Eguren we didn’t do a tasting due to the limited time we were there, we were never at the hotel. I would recommend staying at this hotel since its close to a lot of bodegas on this list, and the views are something out of a fairy tale dream. You can even walk through the vineyards at Eguren, I did a jog one morning through them and was in paradise. Cheers friends! Saludos!
Carmen, sounds like you were able to get around to most of the wineries we suggested. That’s fantastic. I totally agree about the Baigorri lunch. We really liked Ostatu and Luis Canas wines. I’m glad you liked them too. Next time, make sure you do a tasting a Eguren! 🙂
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Hola, Laura.
We’re traveling between Madrid and Bilbao in late February this year and have 2 days. We were planning on one day in Segovia and one in Rioja. Is another day in Rioja worth skipping Segovia given the time of year?
Erin
Hi Erin. I haven’t been to Segovia, so I might be a bit biased, but I would spend both days in Rioja, especially if you like wine. If you only spend one day, you’ll just wish you’d done 2. It’s a really awesome place.
We are planning a trip to Rioja in October. I understand it can be difficult to tour/taste because of harvest. Do you know any wineries that have special events to join for harvest?
Is there an expectation to purchase if you tour? At smaller family owned wineries?
I don’t know specifically which wineries offer events during harvest. I would recommend emailing the Rioja tourism board. They will know everything you need, and will be up to date and helpful.
Laura, we will be in Rioja 3 days early June.
Your blog has excellent recommendations, look forward to visit the wineries you recommend. We are staying in Logroño and pincho bars at Laurel St is on top of our list. Keep up the quality information you present.
That’s so exciting, Lourdes. I crave the pinchos bars – make sure you stop at Bar Jubera for patatas bravas! Yum.
Thank you so much for this Laura! This has been super helpful! I am planning a hen-do which will be slightly different…. The bride loves cycling, and we were thinking of doing a wine tasting cycling weekend. There will probably be about 15 of us – do you have any recommendations on where a group can stay, and if there are any must do activities outside of wine tasting? I was thinking of the hot-air ballooning possibly?
Carla, I think a cycling trip in Rioja would be fantastic. For hot air balloon rides, check out Muga https://www.bodegasmuga.com/en/wine-tourism/activities/hot-air-balloon-ride/. Definitely visit Logrono for the pinchos crawl (we have a post about it). For other activities, there are a lot of great little towns, impressive cathedrals, nature reserves, even a piece of the Camino de Santiago. You won’t run out of things to do. Eguren Ugarte has rooms, not sure if enough for 15. Otherwise try to look for a holiday home. I’m sure there are plenty in the area.
Hello I really enjoyed your article.
I / we are staying at a nearby Parador …Parador de Santo de la Calzada, arriving early Tuesday June 19th (with a family – 19 and 16 year old), for only one night! I can spend the day on the 20th, just have to drive to Madrid that evening, after some time “not tasting” for a safe drive.
I would appreciate your recommendation on how to spend our time at which of the venues (or others) you feel are ideal…thanks!
Hi Mark – I think you’d enjoy the town of Laguardia. It’s a fun place to walk around, there are restaurants, wineries, bars. Try to get an appt at La Fabulista (it’s a very old winery with underground caves), and maybe also try nearby Ysios and Egaren Ugarte, or Baigorri (they have a fantastic lunch too). Enjoy!
Hello, We are driving from Madrid to Pamplona and want to stop in Rioja for some wine tasting. The problem is, we cannot leave Madrid until 2:00pm on a Friday. Will there be any wineries still open when we get to Rioja?
Hi Catherine – There are a few wineries in Haro that are open late-ish, like 6pm or 7pm. Try Lopez de Heredia, Gomez Cruzado, Ramon Bilbao, and CVNE.
Hello. having just passed my WSET level 3 exam I keen to plan a special Rioja trip for my 60th in 2020. On a previous visit we went to Marques de Riscal.
I would now like to visit as many bodegas as possible over 4 or 5 days with good meals too! Would welcome your advice and recommendations. Other bodegas I am interested in are Roda, Tondonia & Muga and especially Castillo Ygay.
Any hotel recommendations, restaurants please?
With thanks
Tony,we just passed level 2 wset. Congrats on level 3! You’ll love Rioja! Have you read our articles on wine tasting in rioja and Haro? Lots more recommendations there. For hotel, we love Hotel Viura, and hotel plaza mayor in Logrono. Also love the pinchos crawl in Logrono.
Thanks for reply. Congrats on Level 2. If you plan to do level 3 it is a step change with more emphasis on applying your knowledge. Hard work, enjoyed it and recommend. Will defer Diploma for 2 years and enjoy life first! Hence Rioja trip. Will use your excellent Rioja summary in my planning. I have Hotel Viura on my radar – which bodegas are nearest. Emailed them and they say taxis are expensive with both Haro and Logrono 30Km away so recommend we use our hire car. I am thinking of adding bodega Vivanco to my list. I like the look of all 11 bodegas you mention so may to rethink my route and days. Have you been to Castillo Ygay? Just looking for a hotel that is well suited. Thanks for sharing.
You won’t regret Hotel Viura. We love it. Right next to Bodegas Luis Cana which you absolutely should have on the list. Also near Ostatu and Baigorri.
Nice article! I am visiting on a Sunday with my wife and 6-year old son. Which wineries are open on Sundays? Which ones admit young children (at least in parts of the house)? In case they are not allowed, are there any activities that are suitable for young children in Haro, Logrono or Laguardia while adults tour the cellar? Thanks!
David, you won’t have any trouble bringing the kids with you to the wineries. They all allow children along on the tours. Most wineries are also open on Sundays from 10am – 4pm. It’s always wise to check the website of the ones you want to visit and make appointments in advance. If you haven’t seen our guide on wine tasting in Haro, do take a look at it.
We will be visiting Legrono for 2 nights in July. I’ve done a fair bit of research and I have to say your article is by far the most helpful I have found. Thank you.
I will be taking my mom with me who has some mobility issues. She can walk but has trouble with stairs, and for longer distances she’ll use a wheelchair. Which wineries would you suggest for someone with mobility issues? I’m interested in visiting a modern winery as well as a more traditional one.
Hi Rosa. Thanks for the compliment about our post. The modern wineries are more likely to be wheelchair accessible. The only one I know for sure is Baigorri. I would suggest emailing the more modern facilities first, like Ysios, Marques de Riscal, Luis Canas.
Hello Laura, great information here! We’re staying in Haro in early August and have a tour reserved for Muga, sadly our other favorite (Lan) is closed for the holidays… We’d like to stop into Roda , Lopez del Heredia, and others for tastings and not tours (we’re traveling with teenagers). Can we stop into these and some of the others you’ve listed (and just in general), just for tasting, without set times and reservations? I see you can at Roda (you mention bringing a glass into the cellar), but is that standard? We’re super excited, love the article – thank you!
Hi Baron. You won`t have any trouble walking in for a tasting at any of the wineries you mentioned without an appointment. They all have tasting counters with flights to choose from. Others we recommend are CVNE and Gomez Cruzado (one of our favorites). The wineries outside of Haro are much more likely to require appointments.
Hello! We are headed to Rioja on the 18th. I am making our reservations now. I was wondering if you could choose lunch at one these wineries, which would you choose? And if you could choose two, which would you choose?
1- Baigorri
2- Vina Real
3- Eguren Ugarte
Thank you very much!!!! Feel free to email me also!
Shivani, I would choose Baigorri and Eguren Ugarte in that order. Baigorri’s lunch is really hard to beat.
Thank you very much!!!! 🙂 Shivani
I LOVE this blog! Question: are any Bodegas open on Sunday?
We will be in La Rioja August 31-sept 4. We have also heard the Last Saturday of the month all the wineries are open in abalos with free tastings? Any thoughts or ideas of the best wineries in abalos?
So happy that you love the blog, Leslie! A lot of the bodegas are open on Sunday. If you check back through the comments, you’ll see some recommendations for Sunday wineries. There are quite a few wineries in Abalos, but I haven’t personally been to any of them.
Hi Laura,
I’m planning a trip to Rioja in May and I cannot wait to try out your recommendations! I’m going with my elderly parents for 6 days and was wondering if you thought that may be too much time in Rioja. Additionally, they don’t feel comfortable driving and nor do I. Do any of the winery tour companies offer private guides and transportation for 4-5 days? Or do you have any recommendations in terms of transportation?
Victoria, 6 days wouldn’t be too long if you take it slow and see all the sights in the area, including wineries. There are many opportunities for long lunches too. If you like to have a full schedule, then 3 days would be enough. For driving, there are some comoanies that can drive you for 3 or 4 days. However it will be quite expensive. It’s really quite easy driving there. Great roads, not a lot of traffic, good signage.
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Hi Laura
Such brilliant advice on the region. We’re going to be heading out there in May this year for a couple of days. Per your reviews we’ll base ourselves in Haro for both nights with a day doing the wineries around there and probably doing Logrono the second day to take in the pinchos crawl. It doesn’t look like there are many transport options between the cities? Any thoughts on how best to move 10 people between the two as none of us plan to play designated driver 🙂
Thanks
Gary
Gary, if you really don’t want to hire a van for everyone, I would think ordering 2 taxis would be the best option. The taxi company might have a van everyone could fit in, if you order it in advance.
Hello Laura,
I will be visiting Rioja for 3 days and would like to share my itinerary with you for your opinion and recommendations. Firstly would you recommend lunch and tour at Bodegas Baigorri over Bodegas Marques Murrieta
Feel free to email me, Lynn. I haven’t had lunch at Murrieta, though it is one of my favorite wineries. I think Baigorri has a rather unique and unbeatable lunch.
Laura, wanted to email you some questions with getting to Rioja from Barcelona and winery/food questions. What’s the best email address to reach you at?
Thanks so much!
Hi Marko. You can send us a message directly on our contact us page on the website.
Per your recommendations we are headed to Logrono and staying at Calle Mayor. We will be arriving on our 10 year Anniversary. Is there anything special that you can recommend for us to do that night. The next day we have a private wine tour planned and want to do a Pintoxs crawl the next night. We aren’t super fancy per se, are real foodies and love a good time. Any recommendations would be appreciated. We cannot wait and thank you for all your info above.
Megan, my favorite foodie thing to do anywhere in the world is the pinchos crawl in Logrono. For us, that would be the most special way to spend the evening together. There are other restaurants that we love too, like Wine Fandango, but none of them hold a candle to the pinchos crawl.
Great recomendations! We did several wine tastings and tours at the very end of August. What a great experience, no crowds and incredible value compaired to Napa or Sonoma. The largest tour might have had10 people. We really liked the friendly atmosphere. We did a tasting only at Muga, I would have liked to toured that as well but ran out of time. Our favorites were:
1. Lopez de Heredia – fantastic tour, so much tradition and a great contrast to the other wineries we visited. We received a bottle of Vina Tondonia to take home after the tasting!
2, Baigorri – so modern and new. Great meal (lunch) was amazing with generous wine serving.
3. Eguren Ugarte – Loved the hotel and winery tour. Had an excellent lunch at the winery with some outstanding wines.
As a side note we loved the pinchos in Logrono and the quaint town of Laguardia.
John
Fantastic notes, John. Thanks for sharing them. I completely agree with you.
Great blog! I’m off to Logrono for my 40th in July. There will be 10 of us in all and we’re staying in central Logrono. I’m hoping to squeeze in the following: Saturday: Taxi to Haro to visit Roda, Tonodonia, Muga. Sunday: taxi round Ysios, Baigorri, Marques de Riscal. Do you think this is feasible or do you think I should just aim to do two on each day. Keen to return to Logrono after bodega tours for the Ruta de Pinxos. This can be done in the evening as well as over lunch, can’t it? Anything to be mindful of?
Hi Peter. I replied via email, but for others, I’ll answer here. Definitely feasible to do those wineries in one day. Also consider Ostatu and Luis Canas in the are of Baigorri. They are very close. Marques de Riscal is further away. You can do the Pinchos crawl for lunch or dinner. They are VERY small bars, and can be packed full. Splitting up a group of 10 is the best bet to get served.
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Hi Laura! I’m a Make Traffic Happen student and have come to rely on Savored Journey for travel ideas! I’m visiting La Rioja in Sept and was wondering out of the wineries you recommend here, which are small boutique ones with wines I can’t find back in the States? I prefer to visit the smaller wineries when I travel, but was having trouble determining which in this article fit that bill. Thank you!
Hi Adria, great to see you on SJ! La Rioja is one of my favorite places on earth. You won’t have trouble finding wineries that fit your bill, because most of them do. I would suggest Ostatu, Luis Canas, Gomez Cruzado, and Eguran Ugarte. Another that I really love, but does have a bigger reach is Marques de Murrieta. For really small producers, head into Laguardia and just walk through the streets and stop by somewhere with a tasting sign. Just don’t go in the siesta, as most places are closed.
Awesome, thank you so much! I also found your Haro guide. Are all the ones there bigger producers?
Not all, but most are mass producers. Gomez Cruzado makes less than 200K bottles a year, which is one of the smaller ones in Haro, plus I love their wine.
Perfect, thank you!! Really appreciate your help!
Hi Laura, really loved your article and based on this, we have planned to stay in Logrono for 2 days and out of which we plan on spending 1 whole day in Laguardia (and 1 whole day in Logrono).
In Laguardia, we plan on visiting Ysios, Marques de Riscal and Carlos San Pedro Perez de Viñaspre (or El Fabulista). Do you think this looks alright ?
Also, we dont have a car and will use public transport only so you think, it should be alright covering the above mentioned places using public transport ?
Thanks and looking forward to your reply.
Evaris
Hi Evaris. It’s important to note that the wineries you listed for Laguardia are not inside the town, with the exception of the last one (or two, if you include El Fabulista). To get to Ysios, you will need to hire a taxi or walk. Marques de Riscal is too far away, if you don’t have a car. I would suggest Eguren Ugarte instead. You can walk to both in 1 hr, or take a taxi from Laguardia.
Logrono is equally spread out. You can try many many of the wines of the area by doing the Pinchos crawl inside Logrono and asking for specific wines by the glass.
Hi Laura. Just found out your review and loved it! We are a couple with a schedulled trip to Pais Basco in late february. We’re going to take a car in Bilbao and stay for 3 nights in Abalo, which means 2 full days at Rioja Alavesa. As we both love wine, I’d like to hear you about bodegas/restaurants closer our base in order to limit driving. Thank you and congratullations for your comments.
There are quite a few bodegas and restaurants near there. In fact, most of the ones mentioned in this article are nearby and would be great stops for you.
We arrived home from a month in Spain last night. Travelling from Calahorra to Santander we were fascinated by the bodegas we could see from the motorway. Already doing some research for a return trip to do some wine tasting I came across your article. It will be our starting point I think for planning our trip. We have done various wine trips here and there but always in the summer. Are the Rioja bodegas a year round destination ? Is there a recommended time of year to visit? So glad I came across your site. I shall be browsing some more! Thank you.
Definitely go back for the bodegas, Lynne. It’s a great experience. They close for a bit in Dec/Jan, but are otherwise open year round, however, Sept to Nov is prime time. We love the wine experience in Rioja.
Hi Laura!
Thank you so much for all of this wonderful information-it has already proved to be helpful. As I was doing research, I found that R. Lopez de Heredia’s website says that they do not have a tasting service, and are only open for professionals. Is this perhaps something that changed post-Covid, or am I looking at the wrong section on their website?
Thanks so much!
It’s possible they’ve changed their tour options, but you can still stop in their glass tasting room in front of the winery for a tasting any time.
Great article! We’re a party of 8 staying in LaGuardia for three nights in September and are planning on taking a tour one of the days to the Rioja region. We like the smaller wineries as opposed to the large ones. Is your list current? I see comments from 2017. We will be there during the wine fest and plan to go there one day. Any recommendations in wineries/restaurants would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Holly, yes our list is up to date. We update all the time. My favorites are all on the list. Eguren Ugarte and Baigorri are great for lunch. Luis Canas and Ysios for tasting… they’re all so great!