Wine O'Clock

Day 36 Thurs 1/6/17  Another month rolls round and we are still out of the U.K. We set off from the hotel after 10AM to explore the bodegas in the town with a focus on the cluster near the railway station. Each of the bodegas we visited had its own charm but we found that most English language tours started at 10AM which is a bit early to be drinking wine, in our opinion! We did find one bodega which had an English tour at 2PM but it was fully booked so we left our number in case there was a cancellation.  Back into town for a coffee and consideration of our plan then a stroll to find a café where we could get a bocadillo (we couldn’t face another menu del dia - just too much food!). After lunch we headed back to Lopez de Heredia in case there was a cancellation in the 2PM tour and fortunately that was the case. Lopez de Heredia is a family owned and run bodega and is the oldest in Haro. Our guide was called Lydia and was a fantastically engaging and entertaining person. The whole tour group comprised of ourselves, two young Americans and three Swedes – a couple and their daughter who lives in Madrid. This group size was a total joy and such a contrast to the 35 Americans that we saw in a single group at bodega Musa earlier in the day. We spent an hour walking around the winery learning about the company and their process.....

Huge oak vats which are irreplaceable

The Coopers' workshop

.....and then kicked back in their courtyard and tasted 3 of their vintages along with Iberico ham, all of this seemed pretty good value for EUR30 each.  But then at the end we were each give a bottle of one of their top end Rioja Reservas normally sold at EUR25 per bottle. 

Having has so much fun we walked to the CUNE bodega, having enjoyed their Rioja at dinner in Cuenca and then subsequently buying some more. We had a tasting of 5 of their Reservas and had great fun in the process during which we saw the two young Americans from the Lopez de Heredia tour so had a good chat with them before finishing up and buying some CUNE wines, a white Rioja and their single estate bottled Conita. We also received a free half bottle of their Villa Real Reserva which was nice.

Back at the hotel I repacked the car boot to accommodate our purchase then we freshened up before heading out for tapas time. In the first bar we visited we met up with Mike and Valerie, the two young Americans from earlier, and enjoyed drinks and Tapas in a couple of bars with them before heading home