Now that you know what wine tourism is and you have all the keys to enjoy it, we are going to talk about the specific activities you can do in La Rioja if you opt for this type of tourism.
Would you like to do something different? Would you like to discover the richness of the wine tourism experience? Read on!
Get to know the vineyards from the inside
Some wineries offer the possibility of visiting the vineyards or even participating in the harvesting process. This is the case of Vivancowhich, during the grape harvest season, invites you to take part in this magical process from 1 October to 1 November.
Rediscover the cellars
Numerous wineries in La Rioja have opened their doors to the public so that they can learn first-hand about the processes involved in making the wines that are later consumed. At Vivanco, the wineries are underground, built under the vineyards to avoid damaging the land and minimise the environmental impact. On the other hand, the fact that they are underground means that the conditions for the wine are optimal: humidity, temperature and gravity are balanced throughout the year and in a natural way.
Inside the cellars you can visit the rooms such as the vat room, the malolactic fermentation room or the octagonal barrel room and see the different processes that take place in the winery to make wine: cooling of the grapes in the refrigeration chambers, selection, destemming and crushing of the grapes, maceration and fermentation in the French oak reds, post-fermentation maceration, pressing...
Enjoy wine and gastronomy
Are you a wine lover and don't know how to taste it correctly? If you want to learn how to taste wine , a winery is the ideal place for this task. Nobody will be able to tell you better than a professional oenologist and sommelier how to really taste a wine to enjoy the universe of flavours and aromas that it gives us.
Many wineries also offer numerous attractive courses such as the tasting "From must to wine through the senses" at Vivanco, where you can discover through the senses the evolution of wine from must to wine.
Would you also like to enjoy a good meal? No problem, the restaurant at Vivanco delights lovers of good food and wine, because here, as well as offering the best of Riojan gastronomy, they offer proposals such as Winecooking, where wine becomes more than just an accompaniment to food: it is an essential ingredient.
Learn about Wine Culture
If you are a true wine lover, you must learn about its culture, its origins and its history. And for that, there is nothing better than the six rooms that make up the museum Vivanco.
In the first room, "Born, grow, mature", we learn about the origin of wine and its evolution through 8,000 years of history thanks to an extensive ethnographic and technological collection of vines and wine.
In the second room, "Guardar las esencias", audiovisual projections show us how barrels and corks are made and how the glass is blown out of the bottles.
In the third room, "The winery, the dream", we will see the work carried out in the wineries, from the pressing of the grapes to their commercialisation.
In the fourth room, "Wine: Art and Symbol", we will enjoy the art and archaeology collection with works that share the same common denominator: wine.
The fifth room, "Opening, serving and drinking", houses a collection of almost 3,500 corkscrews, as well as glasses, containers and serving utensils from classical antiquity to the beginning of the 20th century.
And the sixth room is open-air art: the garden of Bacchus. Here we will admire a collection of more than 200 varieties of grapes, both national and international.
Have fun with your family
Wine tourism does not only have to be an activity for adults. Many wineries programme special activities for all audiences. Vivanco includes in its programming the kids workshops. These children's activities are aimed at children, accompanied by their families, accompanied by professionals while their parents visit the foundation or for schools. In these workshops, the culture of wine is brought closer to the little ones with creative activities and games as learning engines.
Live La Rioja
All this is wine tourism, but it is not the only thing. Wine tourism also means getting to know the natural environment, living the experience of travelling and discovering the unknown.
La Rioja is a region with an infinite number of tourist attractions that you should get to know. You can start with the Dinosaur Route or if you prefer architecture and history, you cannot miss the Route of the Castles or the Route of the Monasteries.
If you want to get to know the small charming villages you should not miss the opportunity to visit Haro, Ezcaray, Briones, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, Nájera, Arnedo, Alfaro...
One of the best ways to get to know a place is through its gastronomy, and La Rioja has some of the most interesting gastronomic routes. A stroll along the famous Calle Laurel in Logroño or tapas in Haro are two must-visits in La Rioja.
And if you like popular festivals, La Rioja is the perfect place because it is here where the most entertaining festivals in the country are held, such as the wine battle of Haro, the medieval days of Briones or the festivities of San Mateo in Logroño.
We have shown you that wine tourism is not just a visit to the winery. Wine tourism is seeing, eating, smelling, feeling, learning, living... enjoying an environment where wine is the protagonist.
How long has it been since you've awakened your senses?
