Rioja Tour

I assume you mean CVNE in Haro. With a car, you have plenty of time to hit all three because it’s just a 30-minute drive between Haro, Briones and LaGuardia. The latter two towns are really small, with fewer than 2,500 residents combined. Bilbao is a one-hour drive from Haro.

3pm is a funny time for a visit, as it´s during our lunch break, so if you have time to do an earlier tour somewhere else, it´ll be great. I can recommend Laguardia and a visit to Casa Primicia, as there are very different types of wineries in Rioja.

I agree that 15:00 is a awkward time for a tour.

You could try going to Briones early, and visiting the Vivanco Museum of Wine, and Winery. Depending on how much you time you have, then you could visit Briones or San Vicente de la Sonsierra, before going back to Haro.

Thanks for all the advice.
Not sure I understand why a tour at 1500 is an awkward time. It's during siesta for locals and therefore many shops etc closed, but for us the winery is open and ready to go ??
BT

It´s during lunch time, that´s why it seems a funny time as many places close and there´s not much to do during those hours. Siesta means nap, and it´s not to be mistaken with lunch, the most important meal of the day for us (dinner is quite unimportant). No problem at all with the timing, as a local I find it odd as you will not enjoy a proper lunch. When I go to Rioja from Bilbao, I like to visit two different wineries, one at 10am, another one around noon, then a visit of Laguardia (undoubtedly, the most beautiful town in the Rioja Alavesa wine region) and lunch, and after lunch I take some time visiting other places in the area.

Now I see, That makes perfect sense. Thank you for clarifying.
Can Recommend a place for lunch near Laguardia or Briones/ San Vincente ?

@william, I think I've been here too long. I think Mikel explained it pretty well, especially the "proper lunch" part.

I know that there are some non "foodie" travelers, so they won't give as much importance to eating, but I reasoned that a person visiting wineries is probably somebody interested in a good meal. That is where the "awkward" part comes in. A 15:00 tour probably means 1) a lunch with an eye on the clock, and 2) doing the tour on a full stomach.

Last week I had a friend visiting and we visited a winery in Lapuebla de Labarca at 10:30. It lasted about an hour and half, then we went to Najera where we visited the Monastery of Santa Maria la Real. At 3pm my wife joined used and we had a nice long lunch. About 5pm we went to Santo Domingo de la Calzada to visit the cathedral.

If you visit Vivancos, they have a good restaurant. In Briones, Restaurante Los Calaos de Briones is nice.

Agree with Mikel that Laguarda is “undoubtedly, the most beautiful town in the Rioja Alavesa wine region”. We visited in 2019 and, literally, went well out of our way to return last September. Both times we did a winery tour and lunch with wine tasting at Bodegas Baiggori. Both times excellent! In 2024, before Baiggori, we did a tasting at Bodegas Ostatu which was exceptional. We spent the next day at the Rioja Alavesa wine festival which was such great (and delicious) fun. Bottom line: Don’t miss beautiful Laguardia; Baiggori and Ostatu are great; and, there are so many other wineries to visit and taste. Enjoy!

Thanks so much for all the great advice !

I think the tour at 15:00 is out in favor of pursuing some tastings at the Haro wineries at our leisure. I understand you can simply walk into Muga or CVNE, for example, and get a tasting without a reservation ?
Thanks again for the help.