Hello,
I will be in Spain for 2 weeks, and I was wondering if someone could give me some advice on the best way to approach the wine regions. I will be near la rioja. I don't speak Spanish, so I am a little intimated on what steps to take to get the most out of the experience.

Any good advice would be very much appreciated!

Thanks.

When is your trip? Have you found Maribel's guides? They are excellent and give the websites for research, bodegas and information on organizations that provide travel services for this area.

http://www.maribelsguides.com/

I'm assuming you'll have a car. Public transportation is a bit limited to visit some of the bodegas (but not impossible). You can usually just go into the website of the bodegas you're interested in visiting and request a visit. Many have forms in english for you to complete. Another option would be to pay an agency to arrange the tours for you (if you don't feel comfortable after researching).

I second Maribels Guide. Just go to her website and print them out (free).

Do you know of any agencies that could help me? Thanks!

There´s a Wine Bus that takes you to some wineries in the southern wine Rioja region (not to be mistaken with the Rioja "province"-the Rioja wine region covers areas in three provinces.

for more info:

www.rutadelvinoderiojaalavesa.com
www.vinobus.com
www.riojawine.com

Laguardia is a marvellous walled town, all the cellars are excavated under the town.

If you don't find the info you need on Maribel's Guides, email her from her website and you will get a helpful answer back soon. She answered many of my questionsme with her helpful "right-on" recommendations.

Are you thinking of wine tasting on the same 2 week trip you've posted about for Laguardia/The Basque Country & Barcelona?

If so, unfortunately the wine bus does not operate past Nov 7th.

If this is the same trip where you'll only have a couple of days in Laguardia (including the time it will take to get there from Madrid) I honestly don't think you're going to be able to fit much time in for wine tasting(particularly when relying on public transportation). There are a couple of interesting "cave" bodegas in Laguardia proper but the bodegas near Laguardia (Ysios, Vina Real, Heredad Ugarde or Marques de Riscal in nearby Elciego) will all require a taxi (or bus in the case of Elciego). If you don't have public transport you really need to plan well and spend more time here than someone who has a car. I know from personal experinece: I based myself in Laguardia in 2005 and had a tour booked at Heredad Ugarte for noon. It's only about a 10 minute drive by car so I thought I was very early when I went to the lone taxi stop in Laguardia at 11a.m. I waited, and waited and waited. After 30 minutes, I went to my hotel and found out the issue: Laguardia only has 2 taxis (or at least this was the case in 2005). 1 of the taxi's was in the repair shop and someone had hired the other taxi for the entire day!

This whole area is just gorgeous but it can be a bit tricky not having a car. If you only have a couple of days here you're going to be limited on your bodega visits.

you can always visit one of the bodegas underneath Laguardia, El Fabulista, for example.

Interesting. Are there any places in Laguardia that you recommend staying to visit bodegas more easily without a car? Any other bodegas?

Castillo El Collado, great hotel at very good price. You won´t have problems in finding a bodega tour if asking at the tourist office.

http://www.elcorreodigital.com/vizca...laguardia.html

In Spanish, but google will translate it quite approximately. A really old bodega, worth the visit. This tiny town has an excellent restaurant (www.hectororibe.es), was there last summer with my US guests and local friends from Páganos, as well as in El Fabulista.

Castillo El Collado is a great choice for a hotel however you will likely need to book ahead. They also have a good restaurant.

Again, Maribel's guides really spell out the best accomodation and dining options in Laguardia.

Another choice in Laguardia for lodging is Hotel Villa de Laguardia. It's at the bottom on the hill - just a 10 minute walk up to Laguardia. The bus stop is at the top of the hill so as long as you're not toting along heavy luggage it would be easy to stay. They just opened a spa and had some great specials when we were there in September.
http://www.hotelvilladelaguardia.com/esp/index_esp.html

Hotel Marixa is a good low-budget option in Laguardia and very close to the bus stop.

Hector Oribe is a great restaurant with an incredible menu del dia offered during the week. It's in nearby Paganos which is quite a hike on foot but you could grab a cab (if one is available) from Laguardia.

The 2 "cave" bodegas in Lagardia are:

El Fabulista:
http://www.bodegaelfabulista.com/

Carlos San Pedro:
http://www.bodegascarlossampedro.com/

As I mentioned before, where to base yourself for your limited time in La Rioja without a car really should depend on the availability of tours for the bodegas you want to visit and the timing of the public transport. You really need to research this before you go. If you don't speak a word of spanish, have never traveled before AND are relying on public transportation this may also be a challenging area. I'm not sure if this is your case as you didn't respond to my question on your other post.

Laguardia has a good website with all the hotels/restaurants/bodegas along with their websites:

http://www.laguardia-alava.com/index.asp