Rioja winery visits

Rioja, in northern Spain, follows the Ebro river across La Rioja and into Rioja Alavesa, in the Basque province of Álava. Its red wines are made mainly from Tempranillo, and the words Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva on the label tell how long a wine aged before release. In Rioja, winery visits take place at the bodegas, which show visitors their cellars on a guided tour that ends with a tasting. At the four compared here, a tour costs 22 to 35 euros per adult. The three that publish a duration run 90 minutes to two hours.

Haro: two bodegas in town

Haro’s historic bodegas cluster in the Barrio de la Estación, the district by the railway station, which makes it easy to visit without a car.

Bodegas Muga, on Avenida Vizcaya in the Barrio de la Estación, runs a 90-minute guided tour with two wines for 30 euros, in Spanish or English. Children under 12 are not admitted.

Bodegas Manzanos, on Calle Prim, runs a two-hour visit with five wines for 35 euros per adult. The Spanish tour is at 11 am and the English one at 3:30 pm. Ages 12 to 18 pay 10 euros and do not taste.

Rioja Alavesa: two bodegas east of Haro

Marqués de Riscal, in Elciego, charges 30 euros per adult for a 90-minute visit with three wines and snacks. Ages 11 to 17 pay 14 euros, children from 3 pay 4 euros, and under-2s go free. Tours run in Spanish, English, French, German, Chinese and Romanian, the widest choice of the four. The estate is also known for its hotel building designed by Frank Gehry, with its titanium ribbons.

Eguren Ugarte, near Laguardia in Rioja Alavesa, has the lowest price: 22 euros for a walk through 2,000 metres of galleries excavated underground, ending with three wines and an appetiser. Its private visit for two to eight people costs 40 euros, and its two tastings with food, at 45 euros for five wines with a modest meal and 50 euros for four wines with four pintxos, sit above that. It does not publish the length of its visits. The table below lists them all.

Rioja winery visits: which one to choose

• No car: stay in Haro and book Muga and Manzanos on the same day, one in the morning, one in the afternoon.
• Families: Marqués de Riscal has child rates from age 3 and free entry under 2. Muga does not admit under-12s.
• Language: Muga, Manzanos and Marqués de Riscal publish tours in English. At Manzanos, English means the 3:30 pm slot. Eguren Ugarte does not state its languages: ask when you book.
• Most wines for the money: Manzanos pours five.

Getting there and around

Bilbao has the nearest large airport. Logroño, the capital of La Rioja, has a small one. Haro has a railway station. Elciego and the walled hilltop town of Laguardia, in Rioja Alavesa, lie east of Haro, and the bodegas outside the towns call for a car and a driver who skips the tastings.

When to go and budget

Harvest runs from late September into October, the liveliest and busiest season: book tours ahead. Two tours in a day cost 52 to 65 euros per adult. Haro, Laguardia and Logroño all make good bases for a night or two.