The Miami Herald > Living > Travel

Travel

  • Logout
  • Member Center
    •

SPAIN

In Rioja's vineyards, modern architecture 101

Some of the most famous architects in the world have put their marks on the northern Spanish countryside.

Going to Rioja

• Getting there: From Madrid, served by Iberia and other international carriers, Iberia has many daily flights to Bilbao, then drive 90 minutes south into La Rioja.

• Information: Tourist Office of Spain in Miami, 305-358-1992; www.spain.info.

WINERY TOURS

It's best to book visits ahead. Wineries commonly charge $7-$14 for a visit, including a tasting, but a few are free.

• Herederos del Marques de Riscal, Elciego, 011-34-945-180 888; www.marquesderiscal.com. Tours by appointment only; book online.

• Ysios Winery, Camino de la Hoya, Laguardia, 011-34-945-600-640; www.domecqbodegas.com. Tours by appointment.

• Bodegas Baigorri, Samaniego, 011-34-945-609-420; www.bodegasbaigorri.com.

• Lopez de Heredia Viña Tondonia, Avda de Vizcaya 3, Haro, 011-34-941-310-244; www.lopezdeheredia.com.

• CVNE, Compania Vinicola del Norte de Espana, Station District, Haro, 011-34-941-304-809; www.cvne.com.

• Bodegas Juan Alcorta, Camino de Lapuebla 50, Logroño, 011-34-941-279-900; www.domecqbodegas.com. Daily tours by appointment.

• Bodegas Darien, Carretera de Logrono a Zaragoza km. 7, Logroño, 011-34-941-258-130; www.darien.es. Guided tours daily.

• Dinastia Vivanco Museo de la Cultura del Vino, Carretera Nacional 232, km 442 in Briones, about 10 kilometers from Haro, 011-34-941-322-323 (from North America); 902-32-00-01 (from Spain); www.dinastiavivanco.com. Open daily except Monday.

WHERE TO STAY

• Marques de Riscal Hotel, Calle Torrea 1, Elciego, 011-34-945 180 880; www.luxurycollection.com/marquesderiscal. Frank Gehry's 43-room showplace among the vineyards has 29 spacious rooms in the modern Spa Wing and 14 in the Gehry Wing, each shaped to conform to the architectural curves. Doubles from $394.

• Parador de Santo Domingo de la Calzada, Plaza del Santo 3, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, 011-34-941-340-300; www.parador.es. The 61-room parador in the picturesque old quarter was built in the 12th century to shelter Christians on their pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Doubles from $230, including breakfast.

• Hotel Los Agustinos, San Agustin 2, Haro, 011-34-941- 311-308; www.hotellosagustinos.com. Originally a 14th century convent, and now a 62-room hotel, its covered cloister shelters a spacious modern lounge and a restaurant . Doubles from $165.

WHERE TO EAT

The best priced meal is a visit to three or four bars, sampling the house pintxos. These small, open sandwiches might be cod, ham-and-bechamel croquettes, thin slices of Iberian ham, wedges of potato omelet, squares of foie gras, fried squid rings, artichokes stuffed with ham; $1.50-$3.90 each. In Haro, Bar Benigno, Calle Navarra No 1. In Laguardia, Bar Velar, Calle Santa Engracia 37; Biazteri, Calle Mayor; and El Portico, Calle Mayor 2.

• Marques de Riscal Restaurant and Bistro 1860, in Marques de Riscal Hotel, Calle Torrea 1, Elciego, 011-34-945-180-880. Francis Paniego, a disciple of Ferran Adria and the first Riojan chef to win a Michelin star, oversees the kitchen. Traditional Riojan dishes, such as croquettes and cod with pil-pil sauce, plus some radical creations like foie gras curd with red wine caviar and red pepper and hake in candied batter. Starters from $29, mains from $36, a multi-course tasting menu is $130.

• El Portal de Echaurren, 2 Calle Heroes del Alcazar, Ezcaray, 011-34-941-354-047; www.echaurren.com. Francis Paniego, Rioja's star chef, shares a kitchen with his mother's restaurant, Echaurren, famous for hearty, traditional, regional fare. Wildly innovative modern cuisine that may include tomato tartare, foiegras and pigs' cheeks. A tasting menu is $100.

• Las Duelas, Hotel Los Agustinos, San Agustin 2, Haro, 011-34-941-311-308; www.lasduelas.com. The attractive restaurant by a covered cloister offers such regional specialties as potatoes with chorizo and cod in Rioja-style sauce a la carte, plus four set menus ranging from $70 to $89.

• Dinastia Vivanco Museo de la Cultura del Vino, Briones, 011-34-902-320-001. A restaurant and cafe in this state-of-the-art wine museum features seasonal products and such Riojan dishes as lamb, bean stews and casseroles. Three set menus with Vivanco wines, $34-$57, or a la carte.

BY JOAN SCOBEY

Travel Arts Syndicate

RIOJA, Spain -- Like extravagant trappings on a jewel box nestled among low-lying vines, large pink, gold and silver titanium ribbons gleam in the sun atop a small inn in the Rioja vineyards of northern Spain. Call it Frank Gehry's gift to the well-known wine region.

What are Gehry's iconic, undulating structures doing in rural Rioja? Here, hundreds of wineries dot rolling plateaus sheltered by craggy mountains. Medieval villages, monasteries and walled towns cluster around hilltops. Vacationers come for Rioja's gentle prices and to hike and bike the lovely countryside.

Gehry's presence in Rioja was somewhat accidental. Not long after the Guggenheim Museum was finished in 1997 in Bilbao, 60 miles to the north, the owners of the Marques de Riscal winery coaxed Gehry out to their vineyard. He was reluctant to do a small building so close to the Guggenheim, but instantly saw where to place the hotel: on a rise with views of the vineyards and the medieval town of Elciego, with its 16th century church. A bottle of 1929 Rioja, the year of his birth, sealed the deal for what became the ``City of Wine,'' a hotel connected by a glass-enclosed bridge to an annex with more rooms and a spa.

``I wanted to design something exciting, festive, because wine is pleasure,'' Gehry has said.

Just about every visitor to Rioja wants to see the Riscal winery, and they are usually surprised to find that Gehry didn't design it. But his hotel is next door, and its tangle of tinted, Medusa-like titanium ribbons, which symbolize red and white wine flowing out of a bottle, loom over the bodega. The design is in breathtaking architectural contrast to the winery's sober 19th century complex of neoclassical stone buildings. Frequent tours take you through buildings dating to 1858, when the Marques de Riscal founded the bodega, the first in Rioja to make wines following the Bordeaux method of mashing and destemming grapes. Most interesting is ``The Cathedral,'' an atmospheric stone wine cellar where vintages from every harvest since 1862 rest, encased in protective mold and spider webs.

THE `GEHRY EFFECT'

Gehry is not the first, just the best known, architect in the Rioja vineyards. The ``Gehry Effect'' has turned a tour of Rioja wineries into a field trip through Modern Architecture 101, highlighting international stars and introducing architects less known outside Spain.

Rioja wine estates cut a swath along the banks of the Ebro River. Mountains on the south shield them from the cold Iberian plain and on the north from bracing Atlantic weather. The Riscal winery is near the fortified medieval hilltop town of Laguardia and another architectural showpiece, Bodegas Ysios, a winemaking facility designed by award-winning native son Santiago Calatrava.

Drive down the straight, red dirt road through flat acres of tempranillo vines to the low-lying building of cedar strips, with its undulating aluminum roof and one tall wave erupting in the middle. Calatrava credits a row of wine barrels for the rolling roof, and the craggy Cantabrian mountain backdrop for the tall, central upsweep. A reflecting pool edged with broken ceramic tiles runs the 640-foot length of the facade.

Inside, the traditional winemaking process unfolds in sequence, from grape hoppers and big metal stabilization tanks to wooden barrels stacked in the aging room under the zigzagged stepped roof. Other than its unique architecture, most wine tours are essentially the same, usually processing tempranillo, the main grape of the Rioja region.

The Miami Herald

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

Comments (0)

Top Searches: Obituaries | Horoscopes | Lottery | Calendar

  • More Travel

  • Videos

  • Quick Job Search

Enter Keyword(s) Enter City Select a State Select a Category