Our second day started with a nice breakfast at our B&B. We were scheduled for two winery tours and
lunch at a local restaurant. Since we had some time before our first wine tour,
we opted to do some more exploring in the walled town. As you walk down each pathway you just
imagine the history of the city and wonder what it was like to walk the paths a
1,000 years ago. You imagine yourself living behind the sand stone walls, and
what life would be like. You see the
amount of work and dedication to build this beautiful village. This is evident at the Church of Santa Maria
de Los Royes. The intricate architect
that is just around the doorway of the church.
You sit in aww, and amazement of the detail of the work. You can see that time has taken a bit of a
toll on the walled city and the church. You appreciate how the current generation
is proud of their city and doing what they can to restoring the village, but
hold on to the history and the charm of the village. As you walk outside the walls of the village,
in any direction you have an amazing view of the valley below.
Our first wine tour was inside the village called Bodega
El Fabulista.
Underneath the walled town run a labyrinth of caves or underground
tunnels. Back in the Middle Ages these
were used for food storage and place of refuge for the villagers when the
village was under siege. Today they are
used to store and age wine. They provide
a tour of the upper half of the winery, where the grapes come and get
crushed. Then you begin your decent down
to the wine caves. Where hundreds of
wooden barrels of wine sit and rest in the dark, cool caves. You wind through the caves listening to the
history and the making of the wines. You
eventually end up in a fairly lit area of the cave with tables where you begin
your wine tasting. It is not every day
that you wine test in a cave. Definitely
an experience I recommend you do if in the area.
After surfacing, we headed to our lunch at Amelibia
restaurant. The restaurant is across the street from the main gate
entrance. It has great views of the
valley and vineyards below. The lunch
was much bigger and heavier than most of the meals I have eaten so far. Up to this point we mostly were eating
tapas. After lunch it was siesta
time. I love Spain and their
siestas!
Refreshed from our siesta, we went to our next winery
tour at Bodegas
Campillo. This winery
is on a much larger scale than Bodega El Fabulista, and not quite as interesting as storing wine in underground
caves. However, the wine tasting at the
end of the tour was quite good and the cured meats that accompanied even
better. Another well-known winery not
too far away just nearby is
Bodega Ysios.
It may be better known for the architecture of the bodega. The building is quite stunning. It can be seen from outside the walls of
Laguardia. We did not go inside, just
admired the outside. Marques
de Riscal winery is the oldest winery in the
region. This is just about a 5 minute drive from Laguardia. It is probably more well-known now thanks to hotel
that was built as part of the winery by Frank Geary. The modern structure does stick out a bit in
the Rioja hills, but still an amazing structure. If you visit follow the road that goes along
the side of the building. You will drive
behind the winery and up a little up in the hills. You get an amazing view of the Marques de
Riscal and Laguardia in the distance.
I wish we could have stayed longer in Laguardia and
explored the region a little longer. We
really enjoyed the village of Laguardia and the people we met there. I hope that I am able to come back again someday,
stay a little longer and enjoy more great food and wine.
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