I returned in October 2018, prompting this belated second review. Although we are already in 2020 I…read morewanted to document that my second visit lived up to the great memories I had. The food, the tour and the museum continue to be excellent. This time we focused on the museum floors that we did not get to visit the last time we were here we also spent more time in their shop and sampled new wines. We were touring Logroño with a couple of friends and found an excuse to bring them, since they've never visited before. However, we enjoy this museum so much that next time we are in town even if we don't have anyone new to bring, we will still visit!

You must start any visit to La Rioja here. Museum is beautiful, interesting, and the pics from here…read moreare unsurpassed. Go early in the morning for the best experience. Have pintxos on the terrace after.

There's no shortage of famous Rioja wine. What is rare in the US is white Rioja. Vivanco makes a…read morefairly tasty bianco, but they also go for rosado, crianza and a reserva. A full line of offerings if you will. The bianco exhibits some citrus, some tropical and apple notes. Fairly young, refreshing, and most importantly tasty with food.

Enjoyable tour of a large production winery. The barrel room and bottle room are absolutely huge…read more The winery sits in middle of the grape vines and they offer a great place to sit outside to enjoy a small bite and a glass of wine. I took the English tour. The tour guide was super friendly and very knowledgeable. The winery is one of the most sustainable wineries in Spain, possibly at top the the list. I highly recommend a visit when in the Logroño area.

What a place and what an experience at Campo Viejo. The number one thing was service service…read moreservice. We basically closed down the winery that afternoon and we left because we wanted to, because they would have continued to serve us, that's how great the staff was. Now let's talk wine, I love wine but don't knwo much about specific wines, however I didn't need to know the staff was knowledgeable for both of us. The tour was great and the tasting even better. They were not shy with the portions. The tasting also includes some snacks, they do not serve food so make sure you are not expecting to eat there. The views were phenomenal. We didn't get to do a walk of the vines because of the heat. Would have been added bonus to so that, nonetheless they allowed us to get near and see them and take photos which was perfect for us. Overall a great experience!!! Would go back when visiting that area or Spain. Will be buying the one state side as well!!!

Gayle and I arrived in Laguardia mid-day one recent October Sunday. This is a charming "Village On…read moreThe Hill" deep in the Rioja Wine Country. We came here to walk around, have Lunch, and possibly tour one of the Bodegas that are contained underneath. Things didn't go entirely to plan as we got lost coming here and the Bodegas close early on Sunday. We were also happily delayed by our serendipitous discovery of Juanjo San Pedro's abstract, yet very inviting artwork. Plus it was a pleasure and a privilege to talk with this most kind and talented man himself. Juanjo San Pedro's work stands by itself and after the warm welcome and conversation, I was seriously rethinking the Family Art Budget. He has a separate book of his works, which unfortunately wasn't for sale with an associated purchase. I think he sensed our limitations all along, but was happy to engage (and compliment) Gayle's Spanish and chat about generational things that we all shared. He also showed us completely around his Studio and his various abstract paintings. We eventually left very impressed, and I'm pretty sure that his Studio isn't done with us yet.

In the early morning hours, we had Gumer as the presenter of the wines. We took a 1 hour tour and…read morewere able to taste all their wines for FREE. As visitors to Rioja quickly discover, free tours and free wine tasting are not that common any more in Rioja. Some places seem to want to make more money on visitors without selling any wine. The chant of "vinotourism" is omnipresent in la Rioja. Sad to see. It reduces the Old World charm to have visitors pay for the wineries to promote their product. What happened to the concept of the customer showing their appreciation through the purchase of the product? The bottle price-point at Bodegas Ramirez de la Piscina is really good and the wines were excellent. The Crianza and Reserva were our favorites. The Gran Reserva for the cost was superb. We did not drink a lot of whites while in Rioja, but this one was blended with Viura and two other white varietals which made it distinctive and very pleasant.