LA RIOJA ALTA
RIOJA ALTA WINE ROUTE
Rioja Alta wine route The Rioja Alta Wine Route starts in the northwest of La Rioja, the part of the region where wine and culture achieve their maximum expression. This is the territory where the winemaking tradition is most deeply rooted. From the Obarenes mountains to the foothills of the Najerilla valley and from the river Ebro, frontier and union, to the Saint James Pilgrims' Way, Rioja Alta shows off its towns and districts, where wine is an ever-present feature which appears at every turn along its paths and on every corner in its towns and villages. It is precisely in the area surrounding these towns that we can enjoy a unique natural environment, that of wine and its historical and artistic heritage, the result of a history marked by frontiers which united. The scenery of the Rioja Alta is marked by its vineyards which stretch far into the distance, as far as the eye can see. From the towns and villages, some of them quite literally hilltop lookouts which stand out on the horizon, for example Briones, San Vicente de la Sonsierra and Haro itself, you can look across seas of vines. However, the natural environment of the Rioja Alta is much more diverse than it may seem at first sight: the Sierra de Cantabria and Toloño, the Montes Obarenes range and the banks of the Ebro and lower reaches of the Oja - Tirón and Najerilla hide other riches. Wine is everywhere in the Rioja Alta. Not just in the territory and the landscape, but also in every other aspect of life in the region. In the bodegas, many of which are over a hundred years old, you can find a combination of tradition and modern technology applied to winemaking. Practically all the villages have their own Bodega Quarter, as in San Asensio, for example, not to mention the historic Station Quarter in Haro. Ventilation chimneys, known as tuferas and the vineyard shelters or guardaviñas are a familar part of the landscape all along the Route. What's more, the world of wine leaves its mark on the traditions and culture of the towns and villages, with festivals connected to wine, from the famous Wine Battles of Haro and San Asensio, the latter using the local clarete wine, to more recent cellar open days which quite a number of towns arrange. Finally, history has left its mark on the Rioja Alta. A crossroads and border country, this forms part of the History of La Rioja. The Ebro served as a frontier for the various tribes, empires and kingdoms which passed through the region. The fortresses and castles remind us of the middle ages, particularly those of Davalillo in San Asensio, Briones, San Vicente de la Sonsierra and Sajazarra, among others. Romanesque shrines, Gothic churches and Renaissance and Baroque followed one after another leaving such gems as the Monastery of the Piedad in Casalarreina. In a nutshell, these are the Rioja Alta's letter of introduction, along with the hospitality of the locals and the charm of its communities.
A Land to be Enjoyed To speak about the Rioja Alta is to speak about wine and the landscape is characterised by the vines. In some places these occupy a major part of the municipal land. In many other cases, the vineyards extend, one after another, crossing local boundaries. From east to west and from north to south, the vine is king and is transformed into a common element in all its towns and villages. It is a land in which the hand of man, through his connection with vine growing, has created a particular, clearly identifiable, landscape. Vines have been grown in the district for centuries, with roots which are lost in the mists of time. The vineyards have continued to spread more and more widely with the passing generations, taking over the space which was formerly used for cultivating other crops such as cereals. But the lands of the Rioja Alta hide other attractions, as well as its vineyards. To the north, crossing the Ebro, we find the Sonsierra, dominated by the Sierra de Cantabria and Toloño mountains. Ábalos, Briñas and San Vicente are the only towns in La Rioja situated on the right bank of the Ebro and behind them, these peaks of over 1,000 metres in height are covered with beech and pine and represent an unbeatable place for looking out over the whole of the Ebro valley and the mountain ranges to the south of La Rioja. Continuing west, after passing through the cliffs of the Conchas de Haro, the Montes Obarenes, which separate La Rioja from Castilla y León, appear, and in their foothills you can find some charming small communities. We cannot overlook the presence of the river Ebro, which runs through the whole of La Rioja. A frontier and a point of union, the Ebro forms part of the landscape of the Rioja Alta. The main communication routes by road or rail run parallel to it. It never goes out of view or at least you are always conscious that it is nearby. Its banks, thickets of vegetation and tall poplar trees are a complement to the nearby vines. But in the Rioja Alta, the part of the Ebro which really stands out are the meanders. The river snakes its way from Haro to San Asensio, disappearing and reappearing. The meanders of Haro, San Asensio and Briones are visible from various observation points. Also, along the Ebro are the lower reaches and outlets of three of the seven tributaries of the river in La Rioja, the Oja and the Tirón, which end together in Haro, after passing through Casalarreina and Cuzcurrita, and the Najerilla, which continues through the vineyards as far as Torremontalbo. The Rioja Alta reveals its secrets to us through numerous hiking routes, paths and byways. These are the Senderos del Vino, dozens of kilometres which allow you to enjoy at close quarters not just the vines but also the rest of the landscape, the views towards the north and the south of La Rioja, with the Sierra de la Demanda, as well as the villages you will find along the way. Towns and villages with a history which seems to jump out at you with every step.
A world of Wine You cannot understand the Rioja Alta without the world of wine. As well as a landscape, wine is a culture, a tradition, an identity. Although the involvement in wine growing is recorded since the time of the Roman occupation, the real turning point was in the second half of the 19th century. The introduction of the Bordeaux system for making and ageing wines in oak casks meant a leap in quality for Rioja wines. This was when Rioja wines achieved wider recognition and prestige. Their cradle was the Rioja Alta. Haro became the epicentre of the winemaking world, as is witnessed by the century-old bodegas and the Station Quarter which still remain, their original architecture largely intact, a unique phenomenon and home to some of the regions most important cellars. Other towns such as Briones, Cenicero, San Asensio and San Vicente de la Sonsierra have also preserved their old wine cellars. The Bodega Quarters of the towns and villages of the Rioja Alta are another significant example of the district's close ties to the world of wine. Some of these small, family cellars carved into the rock contain wine caves over three centuries old. This is the case of San Asensio, where the cellar quarter has over three hundred bodegas. Other towns, such as Cenicero and Rodezno, hide their cellars beneath their houses and streets, with the typical ventilation chimneys or tuferas popping out of the ground, in the case of Briñas making whole forests.
A world of Wine Abandoning the towns, in among the vines you will find the shelters or guardaviñas. These pretty, conically-shaped buildings, some of them preserved since the 19th century, sprout up all over the fields and served as shelters from inclement weather for growers and labourers. As well as the bodegas dotted along the Rioja Alta Wine Route you can also visit museums which explain aspects related to winegrowing. The Dinastía Vivanco Museum of the Culture of Wine has become the most important of its kind in the whole of Europe with regard to the world of wine. In San Asensio there is the Centro Sensorial del Vino. La Vista, which shows us the landscape, vines and wine itself from the perspective of the sense of sight. And in Haro you can visit the hundred-year old Estación Enológica de Haro wine laboratory, which was created just at the time when Rioja wine began to flourish.
The mark of History La Rioja was always frontier land, a territory disputed by the different groups who in turn arrived in the Iberian Peninsula. In this respect, the Rioja Alta, as it borders on the river Ebro, suffered these vicissitudes much more directly. The remains of the earliest settlers of the region have been found in points such as Peciña, where La Cascaja dolmen resists the passage of time. After the tribes of the Berones and Pelendones Romanisation took hold, and a Roman road was built parallel to the Ebro, as a means of penetration into the Iberian Peninsula. Following the Fall of the Roman Empire, the Rioja Alta, like the rest of La Rioja, found itself enmeshed in the territorial disputes between Visigoth and Cantabrian kings. But these were also times of spirituality and hermits. San Felices received San Millán in the caves of the Bilibio crags and the whole of the Sonsierra was full of hermit cells where monks and anchorites withdrew in prayer and meditation. In the Middle Ages the border conflicts blew up again in the Rioja Alta. First the Moors, who abandoned the territory in the 10th century, and then the struggles between the Christian kingdoms of Navarre and Castile marked the territory. These were five centuries of confrontations between the two thrones and internal conflicts which affected La Rioja. The left bank ended up in the hands of Castile and the right went to Navarre, including the Sonsierra. It was not until late in the 15th century that the modern day Riojan territory wholly came under the Castilian crown. As well as the castles and fortresses which served as defensive bastions, numerous shrines and churches have come down to us. The Romanesque shrine of Santa María de la Piscina or the Gothic church of Santa María de la Mayor in San Vicente de la Sonsierra represent only a small part of the rich heritage of the district. The Monastery of the Piedad in Casalarreina, dating from the 16th century, is the most successful example of the Plateresque style in the whole of La Rioja. Renaissance and Baroque churches such as Nuestra Señora de la Asunción in Briones, have towers and spires which stand out above the towns and can be seen from afar. The churches of the Rioja Alta are full of small details, such as the characteristic Baroque façade of San Miguel Arcángel in Cuzcurrita de Río Tirón, with a top to its spire which has a style of its own. Indeed, in all the towns and villages we cannot help but admire the noblemen's houses, palaces and mansions which create impressive old quarters. Losing yourself in the labyrinth streets of Ábalos, Briñas, Briones, Casalarreina, Cuzcurrita del Río, Haro, etc., is to admire these buildings and the very fabric that makes up these communities, a mixture of history, wine and hospitality.