Elciego
Hotel Marqués de Riscal
Sixty rooms in and beside Frank Gehry's ribboned building, in the grounds of the Marqués de Riscal winery at Elciego.
Spain guide
Wine travel in Spain
Rioja and the Ribera del Duero above all, with the tastings, the hotels and the season to go.
By Ramin Jafari · Facts checked
For a wine journey in Spain we start with Rioja and the Ribera del Duero, the two great regions of Tempranillo, and add the Verdejo of Rueda, the Priorat or the Rías Baixas where a route passes them. Then come the wineries that receive guests, a hotel among the vines, a tasting menu or a long lunch, and the harvest in September and October. Each region, with the wineries we would visit, is in our guide to the best wine regions of Spain.
At a glance
- Rioja
- Spain’s first Denominación de Origen Calificada, since 1991
- Ribera del Duero
- A D.O. since 1982, its vines between 720 and 1,000 metres up
- Best time
- June to October, and above all the harvest in September and October
- Getting there
- Rioja an hour from Bilbao; the Ribera north of Madrid
- Where to stay
- In the wine country: Marqués de Riscal, Viura, Abadía Retuerta
The regions
Rioja and the Ribera del Duero
The two great regions of Tempranillo, about 190 km apart, and the others a route can take in.
The Ebro valley: La Rioja, Álava and Navarra
Rioja
- D.O.Ca.
- Spain's first Calificada, since 1991
- The grape
- Tempranillo, most of the vineyard
Rioja follows the Ebro through three zones, the Rioja Alta, the Rioja Alavesa and the Rioja Oriental. Haro’s station quarter has what the regional tourist board calls the greatest concentration of century-old bodegas in the world, and across the river the walled hill town of Laguardia keeps its cellars beneath its streets. We plan the days with a driver among the bodegas that receive guests, a tasting at each, and an e-bike ride between the villages if you would like one. More on our wine tasting in Rioja page, and the wineries we would visit in the guide’s Rioja entry.
Castilla y León, north of Madrid
The Ribera del Duero
- D.O.
- Ribera del Duero, since 1982
- The grape
- Tempranillo, here Tinto Fino or Tinta del País
On the plateau of Castile the vines grow between 720 and more than 1,000 metres up, and Tempranillo, called Tinto Fino or Tinta del País here, makes the reds. At Peñafiel the castle holds the provincial wine museum, and the bodegas below it receive guests for a visit and a tasting; roast lamb is the table. The wineries we would visit are in the guide’s Ribera entry.
A route through Castile passes Rueda, Castilla y León’s first Denominación de Origen, of 1980, whose wines are made mostly from Verdejo. Further afield, our guide takes in the Priorat and the Penedès from Barcelona, the Rías Baixas in Galicia and Jerez from Seville.
What we arrange
What we arrange in the wine country
Each on request, subject to availability:
- Tastings at the bodegas that receive guests, the old houses of Haro’s station quarter and the new ones by famous architects, two or three a day.
- The table: a long lunch among a bodega’s barrels, or a tasting menu at one of Logroño’s Michelin-starred restaurants.
- Your own blend, at a bodega that offers a blending session in its tasting room.
- On foot, by bike or on horseback: a walk through the vines, an e-bike ride along the tracks between the villages, or a ride with a guide through the vineyards of Rioja.
- The festivals: Haro’s Batalla del Vino on 29 June, when the town soaks itself in red wine on the Riscos de Bilibio, and Logroño’s harvest festival around 21 September, when the first must of the year is trodden in the Espolón.
To add markets, chefs and Spain’s tables to the wine, see our culinary and wine tours.
Villabuena de Álava
Hotel Viura
A four-star house of 33 rooms in stacked concrete cubes on the church square of Villabuena de Álava, with its cellar in an old underground passage.
Sardón de Duero
Abadía Retuerta
A five-star house of 30 rooms in the restored 12th-century abbey of Santa María de Retuerta, on its own wine estate beside the Duero.
Every hotel we recommend in Rioja is on our where to stay in La Rioja page.
When to go
The wine country is at its best from June to October, and above all at the harvest, in September and October in Rioja and the Ribera, when the bodegas are at work and the vines turn red and gold; in Jerez the grapes come in earlier, from August. Summer brings the festivals, Haro’s on 29 June; autumn brings the colour. Region by region, see our best time to visit Spain.
A wider journey
The wine country in a wider journey
The wine regions sit close to Spain’s great cities. Rioja is about an hour from Bilbao and pairs with San Sebastián and its tables; the Ribera lies north of Madrid and its palaces and museums; the Priorat and the Penedès are days out from Barcelona; and Jerez belongs with Seville and the rest of Andalusia. We make the journeys between them by train or with a driver, and when time is short by private helicopter, from Madrid to the Duero or from San Sebastián to Rioja, weather allowing.
The wine country suits a honeymoon too: see our honeymoon trips to Spain. And its monasteries, walled villages and old estates are in our private architecture and cultural tours.
Itineraries through the wine regions
Luxury Spanish Honeymoon
from $16,800 per person
Catalonia Experience
from $13,200 per person
The Grand Spanish Tour
from $27,200 per person
Spain's Culinary Heritage
from $15,300 per person
More Spain guides
- The best wine regions of Spain
The wine regions worth a journey, from Rioja to the Priorat.
- A guide to Spanish gastronomy
Spain's food and drink, region by region, from tapas to sherry.
More to read: our Rioja and Duero Valley pages, and all our Spain guides.
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