Marqués de Riscal Winery

Elciego was not one of the places we were planning to visit, but its location in the road that took us to the region of Laguardia (where our hotel was) made us stop in the way.

Suddenly one remembers how impressive Frank Gerhy’s work is, and one must stop and admire it. I’ve never had this feeling of “paparazzi” before, which is what we felt because we had no reservation and the access is limited to clients. With our camera ready, we tried every possible way to immortalize the futurist work of art. This is what comes from travel without planning, but at least we could enjoy the exterior of this amazing and titanic architecture that floods the landscape of the Rioja Alavesa.

In the town in Álava, Elciego, the company Herederos del Marqués de Riscal, has built their new winery, a hotel and a museum, all part of an ambitious project called “City of Wine”.

Without a doubt, the building certainly catches your attention from afar. It was built by Frank Gehry and it is a building full of light and color, dynamic and built with stone, titanium, wood and crystal. Its characteristic note is the color that makes reference to the wine and the corporative colors of the winery.

The visit is quite interesting, where you not only learn about the history of the wineries but also about the building itself, highlighting facts that are not obvious at first glance.

These wineries are located in Elciego, south of the Rioja Alavesa. The first winery was constructed in the year 1854, and the museum has bottles that date all the way to 1862.

Due to the increment in production, there have been many enlargements; the last one was in the year 2000. They’ve also made numerous improvements, like for example the installation of the two tables for the manual selection of grapes.

It has received many international awards since 1865. Moreover it has a winetherapy spa, a luxury hotel, a restaurant and two stores to buy souvenirs or Marqués de Riscal wines.