Classics: wineries that epitomize the velvety lingering Rioja style.
Finesse. Indulge into elegant silky Reservas and Gran Reservas with long drinking windows
Characteristics of this Classic Rioja wines tour
What’s the Classic Rioja style?
The classic traditional Rioja is a red Tempranillo-based blend aged for many years in American oak barrels.
It’s light-to-medium bodied, still shows lots of acidity and just gets better with age. The fruit is there but it’s not massive, there are hints of vanilla and wonderful complex aromas developed over the years. It starts to show a pale-orange color. It’s usually blended with Garnacha, Graciano or Mazuelo.
We refer to the velvety lingering Reservas and Gran Reservas you most definitely have had before.
I’m no expert, is this tour suitable for me?
You are probably exposed to the very good mass-produced Reservas and Gran Reservas available at home.The typical Rioja everyone thinks of when they hear “Rioja”.
Our proposal is to take you to the high-end wineries that epitomize the traditional finest Riojas: balanced, silky, elegant timeless wines that have proudly represented Rioja for decades. If you ever fell in love with a Premium Rioja Gran Reserva, this will be music to your ears!
Classics: Unveiling the traditional Rioja flavors
You’ll love the Classics if you like a sip of the traditional Rioja flavors –liquorice, plums, raisins, hints of vanilla, tobacco, leather with a lingering aftertaste-
This experience is suitable for those wine lovers fond of the Reservas and Gran Reservas – and for those who wish to sample the long-aged timeless Riojas with long drinking windows.
Long-aged wines with long-drinking windows
These wines have been aged for very long periods and have therefore long drinking windows.
To give you an idea, the vintages we are drinking now are 2010, 2011 (the last two vintages officially rated as Extraordinary by the Rioja Control board) 2012 and 2014.
Number of wines tasted:
9 wines in total (three Premium tastings of three wines each)
There are many wineries that make Reservas and Gran Reservas. However it’s not just about the ageing period, it’s about the quality. That’s why we will only take you to Premium cellars to sample limited edition wines or wines with little market exposure, as they are only sold at top restaurants and exclusive wine shops.
- 9am hotel pick up
- Tasting of 3 high-end wines at a Premium château-style cellar that only sells to top restaurants
- Tasting of 3 fine wines at a boutique winery with a small 35,000 bottle annual production that makes silky yet bold wines
- Tasting session of 3 high-end wines at a renowned winery (the Spanish wines most in demand by diners all over the world at this moment)
- Farm-to-table home-made lunch paired with 2 wines served at a private underground cellar excavated out of bedrock underneath a 12th century castle
- 6pm hotel pick drop off
Rates per group size
SMALL GROUP TOUR: 250€ pp. Different parties sharing a tour (4 up to 7 people)
PRIVATE for 4-8: 280€ pp. A single party tour for 4 up to 8 people
PRIVATE for 2: 320€ pp. A tour for a single party of 2
LARGER PARTIES: For private parties larger than 8 people, please ask for a quotation
Payment method
- Hotel pick up and drop off in the towns of Logroño, Laguardia, Elciego, Villabuena, Haro and Briñas
- Chauffered transportation in La Rioja in a brand new 9-seater
- All admission fees and all tastings
- Lunch
- Bottled mineral water
- Guide services with an English speaking guide and wine expert
- Travel Agency Insurance
From 9am to 6pm
Booking enquiry
Other visitors’ opinion on the Classics tour
Inma guided us through the wonderful Rioja landscape visiting several different bodegas, mainly in the Haro area.
She is in fact the perfect guide. She has knowledge, she is friendly, she speaks English perfect, she has contacts and not at least she is local. We really enjoyed this trip tasting some fantastic wines.
She picked us up at the hotel in Logrono at 08:30 and we ended the day at 19:30 at the railway station in Logrono.
Within the period of 11 hours we started the day having an architectural visit to the bodega Ysios, designed by the famous architect Calatrava. The building/bodega is really extraordinary. Then we continued having a very interesting guided tour at the bodega Lopez de Heradia. We also visited the show rooms tasting wines from the bodegas Muga, La Rioja Alta and Roda.
Inma, I think we will keep this day in our minds for ever.
Inma is highly recommended as your host when visiting this amazing wine district. With her knowledge and her personality she is just perfect.
What a great experience from our initial enquiry to great follow up afterwards. Inma and Mel have such a passion for their craft and this knowledge is shared in a simple conversational way. We were given tapas and restaurant recommendations for all cities in our trip to north west Spain and wines which we could purchased and enjoyed when we got home.
The day itself was fascinating from pick up in the morning to safe return that evening. Mel was our guide on this occasion and we went to several wineries that day and tasted so many wines. The highlight was at Conde los Andes which is like an old farmhouse outside but is simply incredible inside with its kilometres of cellars and hundreds of thousands of bottles. This is a must see and the tasting was wow with fab iberico ham to enjoy at the end.
Our final part was lunch in a cave tasting wine from a barrel and enjoying tomatoes from Inmas father’s garden, lovely roast peppers, olives, ham, Inmas tortilla and crusty bread, Yum!!
This was such a great day and it was like being out for the day with good friends. Continued deserved success to you both and a genuine thank you!
