How long is the drive to Rioja Alavesa?

By car, 1h10 to Laguardia, 1h20 to Elciego. AP-68 is tolled but fast. Toll-free (N-622 + N-124) adds 20-30 minutes.

Worth using Bilbao as a wine-tourism base?

Yes — especially if combining wine with culture and urban food. For pure winery days, Logroño or Haro are closer.

Is there txakoli near Bilbao?

Yes, several Bizkaiko Txakolina wineries (Bakio, Bermeo) 30-45 minutes by car. For serious wine tourism: Itsasmendi or Doniene Gorrondona.

May-October. Bilbao has an Atlantic climate, rains more than Rioja. September is usually the most stable.

Which architectural wineries are worth the trip?

Marqués de Riscal (Frank Gehry, hotel-winery) in Elciego, Ysios (Calatrava) in Laguardia, Baigorri (underground) in Samaniego. All three can be combined over two days.

Wineries Near Bilbao — Rioja Alavesa Day Trip Guide

Haro · RiojaNº 01

Bodegas Bilbaínas (Viña Pomal)

Bilbaínas (the commercial brand is Viña Pomal) is one of the seven historic wineries of Haro's Barrio de la Estación — the cluster founded around the 19th-century rail line that turned Haro into Spain's commercial wine capital. Owned by the Codorníu group since 1997. The visit passes through underground cellars with century-old bottles, photogenic aging caves, and finishes with a tasting. Pomal Reserva is the house classic.

Guided visit
Wine tasting
Store
Museum

€15–40More info →

Logroño · RiojaNº 02

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
Events / MICE

€12–35More info →

Cenicero · RiojaNº 03

Bodegas Marqués de Cáceres

Marqués de Cáceres was the first Spanish winery to walk away from long American-oak crianza, back in the 1970s, and to embrace shorter aging and French oak. Founder Henri Forner came from Bordeaux (Château de Camensac) and brought the idea to Cenicero — scandal at the time, school today. The winery is large, well-organized for tourism, and the Reservas remain the benchmark for affordable modern Rioja.

Guided visit
Wine tasting
Store
Events / MICE

€12–35More info →

Laguardia · RiojaNº 04

Bodegas Marqués de Riscal

If Frank Gehry hadn't put his building here in 2006, Marqués de Riscal would still be what it already was: the oldest winery in Rioja Alavesa (1858), the first to make wine in the French style in Rioja, one of the historic giants of Spanish wine. But the building changed the conversation. Today, in Elciego (Álava), the 19th-century original cellars coexist with the titanium-pink-silver-gold architectural complex Gehry designed to house the hotel (Marriott Luxury Collection), the Michelin-starred restaurant, and the Caudalie vinotherapy spa. The standard guided visit is 90 minutes — historic cellars, museum, barrel rooms, ending with a two-wine tasting. Book 30-60 days ahead; not a drop-in winery. For the big version: eat at the restaurant. For the bigger one: stay a night at the hotel.

Guided visit
Wine tasting
Restaurant
Accommodation
+3

€40–180More info →

Haro · RiojaNº 05

Bodegas Muga

I went back to Muga last spring and once again left thinking there are wineries that are good and wineries in another league. Muga is the second kind. Family-owned since 1932 (third and fourth generation now), right in the Barrio de la Estación in Haro, and practically the only Rioja winery with its own active cooperage — a space where barrels are assembled and repaired by hand, with the cooper there. The visit goes through it, and it's worth it: you don't see this in many places. Traditional production, egg-white fining, fermentation in large French oak vats, plenty of patience. Not a fast-track visit: it takes time, they explain things, they pour you properly. For me, one of the essentials in the Barrio.

Guided visit
Wine tasting
Restaurant
Store
+1

€25–85More info →

Haro · RiojaNº 06

Bodegas Roda

Roda is the "modern" winery of Haro's Barrio de la Estación — founded in 1987 with a contemporary Rioja approach: old vineyards selected plot by plot, separate vinifications, new French oak, international profile. Roda I, Roda II, and Cirsion (the top wine, made only in special years) are among the most sought-after Riojas. The visit is serious, in small groups, and passes through the barrel room and fermentation tower. Generous tasting.

Guided visit
Wine tasting
Store
Premium

€30–120More info →

Briones · RiojaNº 07

Bodegas Vivanco

Vivanco is probably the most complete winery visit in all of Rioja — not for the tasting (which is fine, nothing more) but for the museum: four floors with the world's largest private collection of viticultural objects. The Vivanco family has been in Briones for four generations; the museum is the personal project of Pedro Vivanco González, a lifelong collector. Roman pieces, medieval presses, a Picasso, a Miró, full 19th-century archives. The standard visit includes museum + winery + tasting; the Premium adds lunch in the restaurant (chef Tomás Fernández, vineyard views).

Guided visit
Wine tasting
Restaurant
Museum
+2

€15–50More info →

Laguardia · RiojaNº 08

Bodegas Ysios

Ysios is pure Calatrava. The winery, opened in 2001 at the foot of the Sierra de Cantabria, is a single undulating piece of aluminum and cedar wood that looks like a frozen wave. Inside, the space feels liturgical — filtered natural light, lines that draw the eye toward the vineyards through a single large central window. The wines (one product: Ysios Reserva) are tempranillo from selected plots in the Sierra. One of the great architectural landmarks of world wine tourism.

Guided visit
Wine tasting
Store
Events / MICE

€25–85More info →

Haro · RiojaNº 09

CVNE (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España)

CVNE — Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España — was founded in 1879 by the Real de Asúa brothers, one of the houses that, alongside López de Heredia, La Rioja Alta and Bilbaínas, established Haro's "Barrio de la Estación" as a global reference. Home to historic brands like Imperial, Viña Real and Monopole. The barrel hall, with a roof designed by Eiffel (yes, that Eiffel), is registered industrial heritage.

Guided visit
Wine tasting
Store
Restaurant

€15–60More info →

Haro · RiojaNº 10

La Rioja Alta

La Rioja Alta is probably the most respected winery in Haro's Barrio de la Estación. Its reservas — Viña Ardanza, Viña Arana, and especially Gran Reserva 904 and 890 — are absolute benchmarks of the classic Rioja style: long oak aging (3-7 years in barrel), careful tempranillo, decades in cellar before release. The visit is academic, no fluff — but ending the tasting with a Gran Reserva 904 is worth the trip alone.

Guided visit
Wine tasting
Store

€20–90More info →

Logroño · RiojaNº 11

Marqués de Murrieta

Marqués de Murrieta is Rioja's oldest continuously producing winery (1852). Castillo de Ygay, an 1872 neo-Gothic castle with crenellated towers in the middle of the vineyard, is one of the most photographed emblems of the D.O. The current range runs from Capellanía (white) and Murrieta Reserva to the iconic Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial — released only in great vintages. Serious visit, high-end restaurant, terrace overlooking the vineyards.

Guided visit
Wine tasting
Restaurant
Store
+2

€40–180More info →

Haro · RiojaNº 12

R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia

López de Heredia is the winery that almost has no comparison. Founded in 1877 in Haro, it has kept the exact methods from the late 19th century — open-top oak fermentation, hand-bottling, no filtration. The underground cellars, full of cobwebs and moss, look like a film set but are rigorously functional. The Tondonia range (red, white, rosé) is a world benchmark for traditional Rioja.

Guided visit
Wine tasting
Store
Museum

€20–80More info →

12 Best Wineries Near Bilbao

Day trip wineries near Bilbao

Bodegas Bilbaínas (Viña Pomal)

How to reach Bilbao

Things to do in Bilbao

What to eat in Bilbao

Frequently asked questions