A group of Spanish students go to La Rioja on a wine tasting trip

On the 11th of June 2016 a large group of Spanish students from Instituto Hemingway took part in an excursion to La Rioja. We set off at 10am on our way to the area of La Rioja named Haro. Haro is the capital of La Rioja Alta (Upper La Rioja) and is home to the most traditional wineries of the region, close to the train station.

We had an excellent time visiting the Bodegas Bilbaínas, a winery founded in 1901. We spent over 3 hours there, getting to know the history of the business and the wines currently produced there. We were able to taste a wide selection of wines. The most traditional wine produced in this winery is the Viña Pomal, which is made both as a crianza and as a reserva. We also tried some rosé and white wines, as well as a traditional cava which has been produced in the same way since the 1920s. We particularly enjoyed a demonstration on how to taste a fine wine.

After the visit we went to the village of El Ciego. We also briefly visited a winery here, called the Marqués de Riscal. Famous architect Frank Gehry designed the modern section of the winery. There is also a spectacular shop in this winery which allowed our students to get to know the variety of wine produced there, which includes classic Rioja, the extraordinary Barón de Chirel, Marqués de Riscal reservas and Rueda white wines. On this occasion we paid most attention on the white wines, enjoying glasses of Verdejo and Sauvignon Blanc. To finish off our day trip we went to a town called La Guardia. Here we visited our last winery of the day, which puts great emphasis on maintaining its traditional methods of wine production. Located inside of the town’s inner wall, the winery Pérez de Biñaspre uses a carbonic marinating method which distinguishes its wine from the rest.

Some of the students bought cases of wine to bring back to Bilbao or to their respective countries. Overall, we learnt a lot about the world of viticulture and had a lot of fun!

This week we will have wine tasting sessions in our school on the 14th and 16th of June to finish off Wine Week.