CVNE is a company who has multiple wineries in their group. In Haro, they provide a cross-section…read moreof their products to taste: Cune, Contina, Imperial and Viña Real wineries. We did not like the Cune Gran Reserva. We were impressed with the Imperial Gran Reserva, but after seeing the high price, we thought better to avoid it. We tasted Gran Reservas from Contina & Viña Real and thought the Viña Real had some good points. We were pleasantly surprised when we visited Viña Real for a tour a few days later that their Crianza and Reserva were very good, some of the best Crianza and Reserva we tasted from 25 wineries in La Rioja. The reason for visiting Viña Real was for the tour. It was spectacular. Having been on 10 tours in La Rioja, we were pleased to have an energetic young lady present the facilities in about a 1 hour tour in English. The production operation is different than most other La Rioja wineries. With a huge crane, they lift the fruit into the tops of the fermentation tanks to avoid any pumping. They use the same method to do what is known as the "punch-down", cycling the fruit and juice from the bottom of the tank to the top of the tank as fermentation proceeds. The fermented grape juice is separated from the "must" by gravity with the must being shoveled out of the tank when cleaning is needed. Oak barrel ageing occurs on the floor below the fermentation tanks and gravity is used to fill the oak barrels. During the ageing cycle, the barrels have to be "racked" to even out the ageing process and to remove sediments that build up. We were fortunate to see the racking operation being performed on a modern piece of equipment that does the transfer from barrel to barrel and washes out the barrel. It was fascinating to see the whole operation being performed in a matter of minutes using one machine operator and one forklift operator. Since La Rioja DOC requires bottle aging, we also visited the bottle aging room. The barrel and bottle management system is a fascinating inventory challenge considering that the winemaker is involved in the process to tweak the wines that are getting "ready to drink". The tour concluded with the tasting. Viña Real Crianza is available on the West Coast (USA) for about $15 USD and on the East Coast for under $11. A real deal. The Reserva which we found to our liking is priced accordingly a bit higher, but still represents a true value in fine La Riojana Tempranillo.

We had our hotel concierge call to confirm that we could visit the wine bar the afternoon of Nov 6…read morebecause they didn't have any tours available, which was understandable because it was last minute. When we showed up, the guard wouldn't let us in and turned us away because they didn't have enough staff to serve people. We were disappointed to say the least.

From the owner: En nuestra tienda podrás encontrar una gran variedad de vinos de Rioja, actualmente tenemos mas de…read more200 referencias distintas!!, ademas tenemos productos típicos de La Rioja. Licores, cava.... también podrás encontrar! Tu tienda de vinos

We dropped in on Bodegas Valoria without a reservation, after seeing it from the Camino de…read moreCompostela trail. They stopped what they were doing, allowed us to sample several amazing wines, told us all about the Rioja region, and even put up with our rambunctious 21 month toddler, keeping him fed with a steady supply of crackers. The customer service was outstanding, with great wine to match! We'd go back in a heartbeat. Highly recommended!

From the owner: Bodegas Valoria tiene la capacidad de elaboración en depósitos de acero inoxidable de 1.500.000…read morelitros y un parque de barricas de roble americano de 1.800 unidades. Sus marcas estrella son Viña Valoria y Finca La Pica.

This is like a large wedding hall. The food is ok. We had some small tasting of 3 different soups…read morewhich were good but the meat is brought RARE and you cook it to your taste which sounds great but doesn't quite work. It was a very low heat and honestly, most of us just gave up after waiting for a while. Dessert was ok. The best part was the friendliness of the servers and the dances we got to see.

From the owner: Villa-Lucía Centro de Eventos y Espacio Gastronómico está situado en Laguardia (Rioja Alavesa) en…read moreuna finca de 10.000m2 con amplios jardines, terraza y parking privado. Además cuenta con unas carpas climatizadas de 700m2, y un edificio de 2.550m2 que alberga un Restaurante-Asador, un Centro de Interpretación-Museo del vino, un cinema de experiencia 4D, un servicio de catering gourmet, una enoteca y diferentes salas multifuncionales para adaptarse a cada reunión o evento. Un área infantil-juvenil que dispone de todo tipo de juegos, tanto tradicionales como de última generación, permite una integración perfecta a las necesidades de un turismo familiar. La gastronomía del asador-restaurante, decorado al estilo vintage industrial, está basada principalmente en la tradición vasco-riojana y en los productos km 0, de las huertas ribereñas, de caseríos, de los mares Cantábrico y del norte y de productores locales en general, siendo una cocina certificada SlowFood. En el Espacio Gastronómico Villa-Lucía para la elaboración de los platos se emplean combustibles sostenibles, como el carbón de coco, la madera de entresaca, las cepas y los sarmientos.