I was just in Rioja this past weekend and wanted to post some impressions. (I am still traveling in Spain.)
We rented a car and drove to Rioja from Madrid. It took about 3 hours to get to Haro, and then we stayed in Logrono, which was about 30 minutes from Haro.
It happened to be Spanish National Day on friday, our first day in Haro, so I don’t think it was a typical day! Everything was very, very (unpleasantly) crowded, particularly the tapas bars along the horseshoe in the historic old town of Haro where we went for lunch.
I had booked appointments at a few wineries ahead of time (tip: the Amex concierge was helpful, as I was unable to get the appts on my own due to the holiday weekend), and in addition to the tours, most of the wineries’ tasting rooms were open. On Saturday, everything was less crowded. It also was harvest, so the wineries were buzzing with activity of seasonal workers carting and sorting grapes, pumping the fermentation tanks, etc.
We did tours at Roda, Cvne, Muga and Remirez de Ganuza, and we spent time in the tasting rooms of Lopez de Heredia and Gomez Cruzado. Cvne and Muga were generic, large group tours (although since we booked English language tours, they were significantly smaller than the Spanish ones), and we tasted their entry level wines. Roda and Remirez de Ganuza were fabulous.
At Roda, it was only my daughter, me, and a man from Germany in an essentially private tour and tasting. Our host was friendly and warm, and we had a truly enjoyable visit. We tasted the 2014 Riserva and 2015 Sela (a blend of mostly tempranillo and graciano), both quite tasty. We also tasted 2 olive oils that were amazing!
Remirez de Ganuza is located about 10 minutes outside of Haro in a little town called Samaniego. The winery is only 29 years old but was built to blend into the old village it inhabits and looks much older. This was the only winery we visited that used steel fermentation tanks and emphasized cleanliness. They had a very modern “assembly line” for sorting and destemming - they made a big point that they cut off the bottom portion of the grape clusters and separated those for the “young” wine and only the top part went into their top wines. We tasted the 2013 Fincas de Ganuza Riserva (90% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano but made from the youngest vines) and 2008 Vina Coqueta (90% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano also but only the top part of the grape clusters - the “shoulders” - go into this blend). I never had either of these wines before, and while I definitely enjoyed both, I prefer the yellow label flagship reserva wine that is 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano, 5% Viura and Malvasia that I have had many times previously
It was a beautiful day, so at both Gomez Cruzado and LdH (which are across the street from each other), we sat outside and leisurely tasted the current releases. I had never tasted the Gomez Cruzado wines before, but really enjoyed the lineup. We tasted the 2016 Coseche white wine (85% Viura and 15% Tempranillo blanco), the 2014 Honarable “field blend” (Mostly Tempranillo blended with Garnacha, Graciano, Mazuelo and Viura of over 50 year old vines), the 2011 Reserva rioja, 2014 Cerro las cuevas (95 %Tempranillo from vines around 80 years old, blended with 5% Graciano) and the 2016 Pancrudo (100% old vine garnacha) I really enjoyed these wines, but for me, the Pancrudo was the standout and I bought a few bottles and am bringing them home in my suitcase!
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I am very familiar with - and love - the wines of Lopez de Heredia. They were pouring 3 current releases (2 of which I have had previously) - 2009 Vina Cubillo, 2006 Vina Tondonia and 2006 Vina Bosconia. I liked the Tondonia the best, and surprisingly, I preferred the Cubillo to the Bosconia, which I had never had before. (Side note: I ordered the 2005 Tondonia at a restaurant in madrid the following night, and it was incredible, and to me, better than any of the current releases.)
This was a wonderful region to visit. It was pretty laid back, and the wines were in my wheelhouse.
