We have booked a Rick Steves Basque Country tour in October and would like to visit the Rioja wine region after the conclusion of the tour. We have tried contacting the guides recommended in the RS Spain guidebook with no success -- one is not available due to prior tour commitments and the others have not responded. Can anyone recommend a wine tour? I found two online that looked promising -- does anyone have any experience with riojawinetour.com or riojainstyle.com?
Posted by
Cleveland, OH, USA
78 posts
In 2019 we used Rioja Like a Native, https://www.riojalikeanative.com/.
We toured with them two days. Each day we went to three vineyards. They picked us up from our hotel in the morning and brought us back at the at the end of the day. A group of four went with the driver/guide. Lunch was included. Pricey but very pleasant.
We were based in Logrono. A nice small town with great restaurants.
Posted by
NC
242 posts
In September 2019 we independently booked a winery tour and lunch with wine tasting at Bodegas Baigorri near Laguardia. We were wowed! The architecture and views are awesome. We were warmly welcomed and then guided on a fascinating tour of the winery followed by an exceptional lunch, accompanied by generous amounts of excellent Baigorri wines — possibly the best meal of our two weeks in Spain. Our time was limited as we were en route to the Basque country but there are other interesting looking wineries nearby as well. Laguardia would make a good base for exploring.
Posted by
Madrid
24 posts
I know Rioja wines pretty well but not that much acquainted with the tour companies. I have always taken for granted that Cellar Tours was the best:
https://www.cellartours.com/spain/wine-tours/la-rioja