Marqués De Riscal: Wines that make history

Drinking wine is an experience, and if this experience is matched with beautiful surroundings, great company and amazing culture, it can create memories that, with a just a sniff and a taste of the same wine, can forever be recalled and relived.

Marqués de Riscal prides itself in helping people to create these everlasting memories, especially when visiting its winery. It is one of the most visited wineries in the world and the fact that it is located in the prestigious Rioja region is only one of the many reasons behind this. Ever since its founding by Guillermo Hurtado de Amézaga in 1858, the prizes have kept coming, too. It was the first non-French winery to receive the Diploma of Honour in the ’Exposition de Bordeaux’ in 1895.

Its majestic empire extends over 540 hectares of vineyards and controls another 900 to produce more than ten million bottles of red and white a year from D.O. Rueda.  Its location in the subzone of the Rioja Alavesa makes for the perfect spot to cultivate the Tempranillo and Graciano grape. The winery is an expert in vintage wines, and it’s been said that the Marqués de Riscal Reserva is ‘what a Rioja Reserva must be’.

Apart from the obvious fact that you will be drinking plenty of great wine, make your visit even more interesting by booking a tour around the oldest cellar in Rioja, see and smell where your favourite wine is stored, and how its journey goes from a simple oak barrel to the joyous sensation on your palate. After the visit, it’s time to try some more wine, this time accompanied by the best Spanish aperitifs: chorizo, jamón, queso – you know, all the good stuff!

Today, many more prizes later, the winery has extended to a whole ‘city’, ‘la Ciudad del Vino’, where the fusion between the old and the new, the traditional and the avant-garde, is perfectly balanced, just like the balance of fruit and depth you can taste in your glass of Marqués de Riscal.

Its traditional cellars and vineyards are full of history, but the winery now has the luxury Hotel Marqués de Riscal on offer, which brings an ultra-modern breath of 21st-century air. Its coloured steel and titanium, curved structure somehow represents the burgundy beverage to perfection. A spectacular piece of modern architecture by Frank O. Gehry that fits right into this medieval town of Elciego.

Feel how your body and soul react to the powerful health benefits of the grape by booking a treatment at the Spa Vinothérapie by Caudalie. This can then be followed by some more delicious experiences at the Michelin-star restaurant, which perfectly pairs the wines with innovative Spanish cuisine.

www.marquesderiscal.com

Bookings, tours and tastings: reservations.marquesderiscal@marriott.com

Telephone: (+34) 945 180 888