Vivanco – Museum of Wine Culture
good is the Tierra Restaurant (recommended by the
Michelin Guide) serving delicious locally-sourced cuisine
alongside local wines.
Away from the courses
In between morning rounds of golf, we make some
wine-related excursions in the afternoons. There
are several wineries within a short drive of Logroño
including Marqués de Vargas, Campo Viejo and the
architecturally stunning Marqués de Riscal in the walled
medieval town of Elciego. A mix of innovation and
tradition, the oldest winery in La Rioja was redesigned
by Frank Gehry (the architect of the Guggenheim
Museum in Bilbao) a few years ago, and its futuristic
design wouldn’t look out of place in outer space. The
bodega specialises in full-bodied reds produced from
old vines, and it’s worth taking the tour of the old
underground facility and to see the hotel close up.
There’s also a Michelin-star restaurant on site.
Underneath the streets of Logroño are several
fascinating underground wine cellars called calados,
an excellent example being St Gregory’s Cellar (Calle
Ruavieja 29), an amazing 30-metre long cellar built with
blocks of stone in the 16th century. Not to be missed is
the superb Vivanco Museum of Wine Culture in Briones
– a winery combined with a massive educational centre
devoted to the relationship between man and wine
over 8,000 years of history. This world class museum
deserves a full day to fully appreciate the multitude of
wine artifacts, art works, displays, plus gift shop and
wine tasting corner, set out over 4,000 square metres
and six rooms.
Sojuela GC 17th with views
In addition to exploring the region’s wine culture, the
local cuisine is an important aspect of any golf travel
experience and the gastronomy of La Rioja is rich and
varied, traditionally based on the produce from its
lands. Asparagus and peppers, vegetable casseroles
(menestras), meat braised in red wine, roast lamb, pork,
fresh fruit and desserts make up many typical dishes
although fish such as salt cod, tuna and sea bream also
feature on restaurant menus. If there’s one dish that
is famous for being typically Riojan, its ‘potatoes with
chorizo’, one which has as many variations as there are
chefs. Potatoes are also the main ingredient of ‘ranchos
and calderetas’, a rustic stew made in an iron pot usually
containing lamb and whatever ingredients come to hand.
On our final evening in La Rioja we take a short stroll
from Hotel Marqués de Vallejo to Calle del Laurel,
famous for some of the finest pinchos bars in northern
Spain. Pinchos, also called pintxos, are the Basque
region’s take on tapas, basically snack-size portions of
anything edible, and they could be anything from simple
tortilla española (potato omelette) or anchovies on
bread to more elaborate miniature creations of haute
cuisine. They are called pinchos because many of them
have a pincho (Spanish for spike), typically a toothpick
or skewer holding the food on a slice of bread. There
are dozens of pinchos bars and hundreds of pinchos to
choose from, with some bars offering several varieties,
while others are famous for just one. They are usually
cheap, and when paired with a glass of local red wine,
usually cost around 2.50 euros.
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