Basque Country Tourist Guide

THE WINERIES OF THE RIOJA ALAVESA Innovation in form and content

t

he transformation that the wineries have undergone runs parallel to the passion with which the people of

the Rioja Alavesa approach everything to do with wine. First came the "calados" (underground cellars) that shape the subsoil of a good part of the towns and villages of the region and date back to the Middle Ages. Today, they are modern facilities that vie for attention by bold projects full of beauty and daring, designed by great contemporary international architects. Some stand out for their avant garde construction, like the Marques de Riscal winery by Frank Gehry, Ysios by Santiago Calatrava, CUNE by Philippe Maziéres, Baigorri by Samaniego and Antión , the work of Marino Pascual. Others are more classical and base their appeal on the elegance and quality of their materials. The wine culture means that the profusion of great wineries impregnates the daily life of the Rioja Alavesa in a very special way. You will find that many are open to visitors and are happy to show you their processes, the selection of grapes to make the wine, the huge fermentation barrels and oak ageing barrels, always enveloped in an almost monastery-like stillness and silence.

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