This is a delayed daily diary of my life in España. Read at your own risk...rants and opinions do occur but so do beautiful photos and links of information!
Monday
España: Days 91 & 92 (La Rioja)
Day 91:
It is 5th of October and Gabby arrives today! We share the same birthday (7th of October, duh) and I am so excited to celebrate with her!!! I tried to explain to Coco that she is going to get to see Gabby but I am not sure it has registered yet....I look forward to seeing her reaction. Gabby arrives at the Madrid airport and from there we drive to La Rioja for 3 days. La Rioja is Spains wine country. There are well over 500 bodegas (wineries) and I have spent the last few weeks trying to see who will allow Coco to come. Not many...
It takes about 3 hours to get to La Rioja from Madrid so of course we have some road trippin music! Coco was so confused when she saw Gabby at the airport. I think she was confused as to where we are going and then I saw her tap Gabby's ankle with her nose and I knew she knew who it was 😄 On the drive, Coco kept looking back at Gabby and then when we got to the Airbnb is when Coco went crazy! From that moment on, she was attached.
We had a minor hiccup with our Airbnb which I did not write in the review I gave because all in all it was a great place and a great stay. However, if you are ever in need of a rental in Lardero (in Rioja), keep in mind this....The listing is for 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms but you must read the fine print. Unless something has changed, you only have access to the 2nd bedroom upon request and only if you have 5 people. With that said, the place what great, had good vibes and plenty of free parking. If you want to check it out, here is the link along with a copy of my review....
Leyre was a great host in communicating exactly where the apartment is located and making us feel welcome. We liked her interior design aesthetics and the personal touches she added such as a small dog bed for our little fur baby and a lovely bottle of vino with a birthday message for my friend and me (Ali)! There is a nice sized patio that we enjoyed spending time on with bottles of wine that we brought back from our bodega visits. We had a car with us and there was always ample (free) street parking available. The only downfall was the wifi connection. There was not a strong signal most of the time. See photos and more adventures on my blog: (URL HIDDEN) or follow us on Instagram! @ali_de_la_tortuga @coco.coquito.poco_de_coco
Our Airbnb got all worked out and by the time we got back from an extraordinary winery visit, things were even better than before!
Feliz Cumpleaños to Gabby and me!!!
The only winery that said they would welcome our well behaved little Coco babes is R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia and I am glad they did because it was our best overall winery experience. We were told ahead of time that Coco would have to stay in a bag or carrier and we were planning on bringing her favorite carrier but as we were already on our way, I realized I forgot to grab it. I was not worried though because my own bag is big enough to fit her in...I would just have to rearrange some things. Scott however was not so thrilled about this but it ended up working out perfectly! Coco was so chill and relaxed. My shoulder got quite sore but the wine at the end will make up for it. Back up for a minute to before our winery visit....we tried to find something to eat since none of us ate lunch but literally, NOTHING was open. This starts to become a pattern of our lives in España. If you are outside of the lunch hours of 2-3:30, then you are fucked. Since our appointment time at the winery was coming up, we gave up and hoped for food there! We loved R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia from start to finish and here is why: We immediately felt welcome by Elena, who gave us the winery tour; the history is basically written in the walls of the underground tunnels; so much passion is put into each bottle; the wine is really, really good; the meat and cheese we were given with the tasting was unbelievable quality; and finally, Gabby and I were given the most awesome birthday gifts from the winery...we each got a bottle of their Reserva, packed nicely in a cute container along with a personalized birthday card and tasty birthday chocolates! Scott was also given a bottle!
Ready for our tour at R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia
Birthday twins in our birthday hats at Viña Tondonia
Exterior of R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia
Waiting inside the decanter building for our tour of the bodega!
Wine decanter building at R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia
Inside the first room, the vats....take a close look at these because you will see a major difference at other wineries.
Ancient barrels used over and over makes for great wine
Room where bottling happens
Over 12,000 barrels are stored here
Everthing is processed in the underground catacomb, providing the best climate for the wines
The woodworking room!
There is an art and science that goes into each barrel which one man has created just based off the look and the feel of the wood. True craftsmanship
This area is like a furnace that heats the wood so the wood will take a different shape
Furry walls of the underground labyrinth! The mold, fur, cobwebs and spiders are all beneficial and needed in the winemaking process. It creates a climate needed for the best taste and aromas of the grapes.
Behind us is the Ebro River
Interior of the bodega and antique stand created for the 1910 world fair and restored to it's original luster.
Viña Cubillo, one of the vineyards of the R. López de Heredia familia (my favorite of the wines I tried)
Jamon for our tasting at R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia
Coco enjoyed the tasting as well 😉
Viña Bosconia....another vine at R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia
Queso for our tasting!
And finally Viña Tondonia Reserva (we were each gifted with a bottle of this!)
Another Birthday treat, chocolate truffles at R. López de Heredia
We rested up for an hour or so and then for dinner, I got us a reservation at Umm Food & Drink, which has outdoor seating.
Coco love!
Coco really missed Gabby and did not want her to leave her side 😍
Propiedad vino tinto at Umm
Tortilla at Umm (more of an egg tortilla than your typical patata tortilla)
Mixed veggies at Umm
Chicken bocadillo at Umm
Day 92:
Today we have our half day tour with Jaime. I got his contact info through a friend of Scott's who had a great experience here a few weeks before. Jaime can be found through Gran Turismo Rioja
We were taken through parts of Lagaurdia, Logroño and Álava in Rioja. We really enjoyed Jaime's knowledge of the areas we visited and appreciated the fact that he did some research ahead of time to plan for Coco's presence. Coco was welcomed at the two places we went to for tastings! They were totally cool with her in her carrier (and Coco was cool with it too 😉). We did not do tours at these places because Coco is not allowed but that is ok because we planned for a few other tours (without Coco) during our stay in Rioja. Our first visit was Ostatu where we really enjoyed the woman giving the tasting and fell in love with her grape cluster earrings! We all agreed that the white wine (rare in Rioja) had a nice, light & crisp taste and the red we all loved was the Gloria. Apparently the rosé is phenomenal but we would never know because some asshole in the U.S. buys like over 80% of their bottles. Hey, I would do the same if I had the money , I'm sure.
Mantible bridge (or what is left of it)
Tempranillo grapes along our drive
Tasting at Ostatu
Ostatu blanco 2015
Ostatu crianza and Gloria
More vineyards along our drive!
Our next stop was for a tasting at Luis Cañas where we got to pick a selection of tapas and the 3 wines to taste. The tapas were quite tasty! The wine I liked the most here was actually one they make in Ribera del Duero...another wine region of Spain.
Our driver, Jaime, opening the doors to Luis Cañas
Wine tasting room at Luis Cañas
Angeles de Amaren
Gabby and me at Luis Cañas
Luis Cañas 2010 Reserva
Tapas at Luis Cañas
Cair 2011 Crianza of Ribera del Duero at Luis Cañas
A little tipsy on the car ride back!
After our tour with Jaime, we went back to the rental and rested up for a bit before our next winery tour. For our tour at Marques de Riscal, we could not bring Coco so we had to leave her at the bnb. Coco and Gabby got in a lot of cuddle time before we left 😍
This winery is a must visit or if you do not want to do an entire tour, I suggest at least having drinks at the bar of the hotel. The hotel on the grounds of the vineyard was designed by Frank Gerhy and it is just amazing. I did not think the tour was that great. Not only were we in a group of at least a dozen people and one super bitchy, miserable woman who could not stop giving dirty looks to Gabby and me, the tour just seemed very corporate. At one point we were taken into a room to watch a video for about 10 minutes. At least give me a glass of wine if I have to sit through that! The big difference of this tour from the one at Viña Tondonia was the modern machinery and process of the winemaking.
Marqués de Riscal
Architecture by Frank Gerhy
Vats of Marqués de Riscal
This is some mechanism for when you do not have the proper tools to open a bottle....used back in the day, with heat, the neck of the bottle safely comes off
These cages hold finished bottles. I found them interesting because the colors go back to the colors used in Frank Gerhy's design of the main building.
I did not care for this white...2015 Rueda Verdejo from Marqués de Riscal
View from the bar at Marqués de Riscal
Getting our birthday celebration on!
Grape vine at Marqués de Riscal
Grape clusters ready for harvest at Marqués de Riscal
Golden time of day
I need one of these!
As we leave the winery, you can see the moon making it's appearance
Back at the bnb, Coco and Gabby got even more cuddle time before we all go to dinner. We decided to head over to Laurel street in Logroño, a well known tapas street. We were lucky to get a spot outside (we had Coco of course) at Bar Lorenzo. The food was phenomenal and I will let the photos speak for themselves...
💖
Agus at Bar Lorenzo = delicious!!!
And we ordered another round of these yummy things called Tio Agus at Bar Lorenzo
