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Exploring Spain's Rioja Province
I recently returned from a crammed schedule in July in Spain that began with the attractions of the medieval quarter of Madrid and then northwards to the province of Rioja, one of Spain's major wine producing regions and one of the country's less-than-familiar regions.
The brief stay in Madrid featured expertly led guided tours of the sites and cobbled streets around the historic Plaza Mayor and the galleries of Velazquez, Murillo and Reubens in the world famous Prado Museum followed that same evening by a memorably exciting flamenco tablao and dinner at the Ristorante Las Carboneras.
The next morning began with a tour of the opulent rooms and salons of the formidable Royal Palace followed by lunch at the Posada de la Villa, a historic albergo near the well known Via de Cuchilleros (and El Botin, the tapas bar made famous by Hemingway). Large dishes of memorably flavorful tapas were accompanied by hefty goblets of smooth red wines, prelude to the main course of succulent, roast lamb.
Leaving Madrid's late afternoon's rising temperatures we took on the four hour bus ride across the vast, fertile fields of Leon and Castile to Raja and the Terma Europa in Arnedilla, a 4 star thermal center.
Hot mineral water hydrotherapy pools occupied took up much of the outside area alongside a mountain stream.
We were able to work up an appetite splashing in the wave pool before heading nearby for dinner at the Restaurant Trefo, a typical 'cueva'. The meal started with elegantly plated tapas followed by a main course of delicately flavored, roasted goat accompanied, of course, by various bottles of the Rioja red wines.
The next morning we visited the Enciso Valdecevillo Outdoor Museum of dinosaur footprints and continued on to the ecological winery Vinedos Ruiz Jimenez in Aldeanueva de Ebro. Arriving at the modern winery our small group transferred to all terrain vehicles for a two mile drive deep into the vineyards for an alfresco wine sampling accompanied by rich bread, cheese and serrano ham hosted by the winery's genial owner, Francisco Ruiz Gutierrez.
Lunch, featuring grilled baby lamb chops, was in the Cafeteria Pub Molino, part of a new hostel complex, nearby in Aldeanueva de Ebro.
The itinerary led us across Rioja to Alfaro on the eastern edge of the province, best known for the hundreds of storks, well-fed by the abundant food resources the adjoining Reserva Natural de los Sotos, build their massive nests upon the roofs and spires of the elegant, early- Gothic Colegiata Catedral de San Miguel. We climbed the steps of a well place viewing platform, awed by the size and the agility of these soaring animals as they flew back and forth to feed their nestlings.
By early evening it was time to leave this unique phenomenon and drive west, back across the province, to Ezcaray's Palacio Azcarate Hotel, our home for the next few days.
Across Rioja ruins of Romanesque basilicas dot the fields and in the many small towns and villages the crenellated spires of Gothic cathedrals and monasteries soar above the red-tiled rooftops.
In nearby Santa Domingo de La Calzada the carillon of its Gothic cathedral - built upon the ruins of an earlier Romanesque basilica by the venerated Santo Domingo to help and assist pilgrims traveling the route to Santiago de Compostela - surprised and delighted our small group with its dramatic height and ornate decorations.
From there our guide directed the tour bus to San Vicente de La Sansierra to visit the well preserved Romanesque basilica of Santa Maria De la Piscina and from there, along dusty vine yard roads, we walked to Neolithic stone wine presses carved into nearby stone outcroppings over 5,000 years ago.
With a nod to the humor in the situation of our seemingly endless dining our guide advised us it was time for an elegant lunch and tour of the Finca Val Piedra Winery, one of the province's largest.
By late afternoon we had retraced much of our route across the province and arrived in Logrono, the regional capital, for dinner at the Restaurante Marisol Arriaga, a slick, coolly minimalist-styled outpost of elegantly prepared regional cuisine accompanied by yet more samples of Rioja's red wines.
The final day in Rioja began with a visit to the new Wine Museum Dinastia Vivanco in Briones, the largest and newest wine museum in Europe that within its short tenure has become the place to learn wine tasting, host conferences and with its incisive library of wine-centered historical texts, a major research center.
Well designed exhibitions carefully explain and display historical artifacts of wine production and present an outstanding collection of wine-themed paintings and sculptures from the Vivanco family's extensive art collection.
From there it was on to Badarran and the Bodega David Moreno to sample it's highly regard reds and it rose wines, with lunch at the nearby Asador San Millan.
In the nearby hills above is the World Cultural Heritage Site of the ruins of the Suso Monastery, a small, cloistered Romanesque basilica where Spanish and Basque were first written by its reclusive monks.
In the valley below the group we toured the Yuso Monastery, a massive 17th C. cloistered Renaissance style building built by Benedictine Monks, famous for its highly regarded collection of 17th C. illuminated Gregorian chant vellum manuscripts now carefully kept in temperature and humidity controlled vaults.
In the late afternoon we sped to nearby Najera and its Gothic Monasterio de St. Elena and an exhibition of medieval arts that captured the spirit of Catholicism that endured under the centuries of the Moorish conquest.
Our final, indulgent dinner back in Ezcaray featured rich Riojan wines, regional tapas and an esxquisitely prepeared entrée of tenderloin of venison at the Casa Masip, Asador El Caserio, a lovingly restored 17th centered timbered albergo whose charm and elegance could not have been bettered as a farewell to Rioja and Spain.
Earlfield Travel is your neighborhood travel agency, located at 144A Fifth Avenue, Pelham NY 10803/ ph. 914 738 0321 / www.gotravel.com.
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