Rioja

I've been coming to Rioja since before I could tell a Crianza from a Reserva, and the place still surprises me. Rioja divides into three sub-zones — Alta, Alavesa, Oriental — and each makes wine its own way, even if they all end up under the same D.O.Ca. label (the first in Spain, by the way, granted in 1991). Alta is Haro country, big historic houses, more structured wines. Alavesa, north of the Ebro, high-altitude vineyards, fresher wines, stone villages. Oriental — formerly called Rioja Baja, until someone decided to rebrand — is warmer, Garnacha country, having a moment. 65,000 hectares of vine between the Sierra de Cantabria to the north and the Cameros to the south, spread across three provinces. Tempranillo dominates (87% of plantings are red). The traditional Crianza / Reserva / Gran Reserva oak-aging model still defines the region, though more and more wineries are doing parallel single-vineyard bottlings. American oak ruled for a century; today there's roughly as much French as American. Two natural bases for wine tourism: Logroño (the capital, the legendary Calle Laurel tapas street, more hotels) and Haro (smaller, but the Barrio de la Estación packs seven historic wineries into 500 meters — one of the strangest density anomalies in the wine world). September and October are peak months — harvest, best light, vines turning color — but also the busiest. May still gets you green countryside and less harried winery staff. Don't believe the "cool northern Spain" line in August: it gets hot.

By Mateo Iriarte·Editor

Updated · May 3, 2026

Cities: 3
Wineries: 8

Nº 01·Cities

Wine cities in Rioja

RiojaNº 01

Haro

If I had to take someone to understand what Rioja is in a single morning, I'd take them to Haro. 11,000 people, the Plaza de la Paz with its terrazas, and a neighborhood — Barrio de la Estación — that lines up seven historic wineries in 500 meters: Muga, López de Heredia, La Rioja Alta S.A., Bilbaínas, Roda, CVNE and Gómez Cruzado. The densest concentration of premium wineries in the world, and you walk between them the way you'd walk between bars. Add the Wine Battle on June 29 (the national-interest festival where people get drenched in red wine at the Riscos de Bilibio cliffs — not a metaphor) and the Vinos de Haro festival around San Juan, and you have a calendar few small towns can match.

Rioja

Nº 02·Featured

Top wineries in Rioja

Logroño · RiojaNº 01
Bodegas Franco-Españolas
Logroño has a curious feature: a 19th-century winery inside the actual city — most are in smaller villages or industrial parks outside town. Bodegas Franco-Españolas was founded in 1890 as a collaboration between French winemakers (fleeing phylloxera, they came to Rioja looking for healthy vineyards) and Riojan businessmen. The historic cellar sits on the bank of the Ebro, next to the Iron Bridge, fifteen minutes walking from Logroño center. The guided visit walks through the 19th-century cellars and ends with a tasting of three wines — their Bordón line, their semi-sweet Diamante, and usually a Reserva. The advantage of visiting is double: the winery itself plus the urban format (no car needed). In summer they also run open-air cinema sessions in their historic courtyard — an idea that works for them, worth catching if it lines up with your trip.
- Guided visit
- Wine tasting
- Store