Wine Tasting
May 20th, 2005, 09:33 AM
#1
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Wine Tasting
Hello,
I will be in Spain at the beginning of October for business, after that I plan on spending 12 days traveling with my mother. My mother and I love wine tasting, what would be the best way to spend a day or two wine tasting in the Rioja area? We would start our trip off in Madrid.
We prefer red wine, thus the Rioja choice, but also like sweeter wines and port. I would appreciate any of your suggestions.
I will be in Spain at the beginning of October for business, after that I plan on spending 12 days traveling with my mother. My mother and I love wine tasting, what would be the best way to spend a day or two wine tasting in the Rioja area? We would start our trip off in Madrid.
We prefer red wine, thus the Rioja choice, but also like sweeter wines and port. I would appreciate any of your suggestions.
May 20th, 2005, 11:16 AM
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I have not done wine tasting in Spain, but I know from personal friends who have that it is not the same in Spain and France as it is here in the States, meaning that for the most part, the wineries are not set up for tourists to come in and taste. I know in France, the owner of the B&B arranged for us to go to certain places at certain times, and though very nice, we would never have stumbled in. I have heard that there are a few areas in Spain where they are starting to build more tasting rooms, but I think you may want to investigate some organized tours.
HTH!
HTH!
May 20th, 2005, 03:33 PM
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May 20th, 2005, 04:48 PM
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One place we can highly recommend from personal experience is a property in the village of Abalos (La Rioja) which offers a series of visits to bodegas in the region.
http://www.hotelvilladeabalos.com/ (flash player required)
http://www.rutasdevino.com/hotelvillabalos.htm
Other places to consider staying that can arrange for you to visit some of the local bodegas are:
Palacio Samaniego (Rioja Alavesa)
http://www.palaciosamaniego.com/en/index.htm
Hotel Villa de Laguardia (Rioja Alavesa)
http://www.hotelvilladelaguardia.com/
Hotel Los Agustinos, Haro (La Rioja)
There are dozens of villages on both side of the river with up to 30 bodegas in each one, but as already pointed one, only a handful will offer a public tour and tasting. Those that do can be spectacular, such as the Juan Alcorta bodega (part of the Iverus Group) outside of Logroño and the Campillo bodega in Laguardia.
A couple of other smaller bodegas that offer tours and samplings are Bodega Torres Librada, Alfaro (La Rioja) and Bodegas David Moreno Peña, Badarán (La Rioja).
http://www.hotelvilladeabalos.com/ (flash player required)
http://www.rutasdevino.com/hotelvillabalos.htm
Other places to consider staying that can arrange for you to visit some of the local bodegas are:
Palacio Samaniego (Rioja Alavesa)
http://www.palaciosamaniego.com/en/index.htm
Hotel Villa de Laguardia (Rioja Alavesa)
http://www.hotelvilladelaguardia.com/
Hotel Los Agustinos, Haro (La Rioja)
There are dozens of villages on both side of the river with up to 30 bodegas in each one, but as already pointed one, only a handful will offer a public tour and tasting. Those that do can be spectacular, such as the Juan Alcorta bodega (part of the Iverus Group) outside of Logroño and the Campillo bodega in Laguardia.
A couple of other smaller bodegas that offer tours and samplings are Bodega Torres Librada, Alfaro (La Rioja) and Bodegas David Moreno Peña, Badarán (La Rioja).
May 20th, 2005, 04:59 PM
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<<check out www.larioja.com.
there are many "bodegas" you can visit on your own.>>
I found this website not very user-friendly (it's a "portal" - - basically a newspaper portal, is what it looks to be) - - at a minimum, to check it out, you might want to go directly to http://canales.larioja.com/bodegas
Choose the "provincia" of interest to you - - you'llget a hundred "hits" for Rioja, for example.
Best wishes,
Rex
there are many "bodegas" you can visit on your own.>>
I found this website not very user-friendly (it's a "portal" - - basically a newspaper portal, is what it looks to be) - - at a minimum, to check it out, you might want to go directly to http://canales.larioja.com/bodegas
Choose the "provincia" of interest to you - - you'llget a hundred "hits" for Rioja, for example.
Best wishes,
Rex
May 23rd, 2005, 07:35 PM
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Bringing your message back up "to the top" lest you never find it... and since you are new... (how do I know that? click on your own name - - a valuable tip that Fodors fails to tell you when they send you that initial e-mail confirming your registration).
