The awards were recently presented at the gala dinner at Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum marking the close of the annual general meeting of the Great Wine Capitals Global Network.
Bilbao-Rioja’s ‘Best of Wine Tourism’ Award winners announced
The winners are:
The City of Wine at Marqués de Riscal
Marqués de Riscal has created a unique experience for visitors at its property in Elciego in Rioja Alavesa that includes the original winery dating from 1858, the first addition built in 1883, a modern vinification plant, the Marqués de Riscal Hotel designed by Canadian architect Frank O. Gehry, two restaurants, one with a Michelin star, a wine therapy spa and wellness center, vineyards from which the winery produces the iconic red Rioja Finca Torrea, and a gift shop.
In addition to the local award, The City of Wine at Marqués de Riscal received a 2016 international ‘Best Of Wine Tourism award.
The Haro Train Station District Wine Tasting
The area around Haro’s railway station is home to the largest concentration of one hundred year old wineries in the world. Seven wineries – CVNE, Bodegas Bilbaínas, Muga, La Rioja Alta, Gómez Cruzado, R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia and Roda – joined forces to create a two-day series of wine tastings and winery visits for wine professionals and consumers. The first day featured a tasting of historical vintages tutored by Tim Atkin MW and tastings of new releases at each winery. The second day of the event focused on consumers who were offered a seven-ticket wine tasting and three tapas created by local restaurants or a 14-ticket VIP tasting of iconic wines and seven tapas. The wineries also showed interesting aspects of the winemaking process such as barrelmaking, racking and underground aging cellars as well as cultural events featuring photographs of the area in the 19th century, a street mural and a sculpture exhibit.
La Tavina
La Tavina is one of Logroño’s most popular gastrobars. A three-story building located at the beginning of calle Laurel in the heart of the tapas bar and restaurant district, at street level it offers wine lovers a wide range of wines by the glass from Rioja, the rest of Spain and from around the world served with tapas. There’s a well-stocked wine shop on the second floor and a restaurant on the third floor. La Tavina hosts a number of events including wine tastings, wine appreciation classes, and book launches.
In addition to the ‘Best Of Wine Tourism’ awards, the II Bilbao-Rioja Communication award was given to journalist Victoria Souviron for an article titled ‘Bodegas de Premio’ featuring the 2015 winners of the local ‘Best Of’ winners in the travel supplement of El Correo Español.
About the Great Wine Capitals Global Network
Founded in 1999, the Great Wine Capitals Global Network is an alliance of eight internationally renowned wine regions – Bordeaux, France; Cape Town, South Africa; Mainz|Rheinhessen, Germany; Mendoza, Argentina; Porto, Portugal; Bilbao|Rioja, Spain, San Francisco|Napa Valley, USA and Valparaiso|Casablanca Valley in Chile.
The Best Of Wine Tourism awards serve as an industry benchmark for excellence and recognize leading wineries and wine-tourism related businesses within each Great Wine Capital that have distinguished themselves in areas such as innovation, service and sustainable practices. For more information visit www.greatwinecapitals.com.
