La Rioja

My first job in Spain was in Logroño, La Rioja. I lived there for two years, but we left in 1990; quite a log time ago. Logroño is not two hours from Zaragoza, although the motorway is very expensive. As a special treat, we had a voucher for wine-tasting in a winery of our choice, so we chose Lecea in La Rioja and booked a hotel in the same village of San Asensio.

Lecea is a small family business in the wine-making district of San Asensio. The buildings are old and stone-built. Apparently the hill is riddled with cellars from the many businesses that used to be there; everyone who had vines would have a cellar and when they needed more space they would dig more. We were taken on a tour of the cellars and had the processes and history explained to us. Everyone was given a long-stemmed glass to taste the wine in.

One of these is my glass.

Lecea use traditional methods; some of their wine is made by treading grapes in a big tank. 

Later the same day we went to Briones. This is a village set on a hill.

There are some interesting old buildings.

After Briones, which didn't take long, we went to the wineries town of Haro. Down by the river are some wineries. You have to climb up a steep hill for the residential part of the town. Wine and its making are the most implorant thing here.

Shoe-shine boy

Horn player

View from the hotel in San Asensio. There are almond trees in flower.