Bilbao & Rioja Wine Tour

Private Wine Tour

See the great Basque cities of Bilbao and San Sebastian and taste the best of Basque cuisine. Then, head into Rioja. Visit some of the region’s essential wineries, taste a selection of classic and innovative styles and dine at the best restaurants in wine country.

Day 1 – Bilbao

• Private transfer from the Bilbao airport to your hotel

• Private Guggenheim Museum tour

• Bilbao pintxos tour dinner

• Overnight Bilbao

Basque Country

When it comes to food, the Basque Country seems to have it all. There are scores of Michelin Star restaurants, born from the Basque response to France’s nouvelle cuisine in the 1970s. The culture of culinary innovation has spread across Spain since then, but the Basque Country is still the heart of modern Spanish food. All of that creativity had to come from somewhere, though, and here it is the richness of ingredients and recipes. The Basque countryside offers wild-caught Atlantic fish, foraged mushrooms, dry-aged beef, sheep’s milk cheese, fresh vegetables, and artisan cider and Txakolí, the local white wine.

The quality ingredients are everywhere here, not just in the manicured dining rooms of haute cuisine restaurants. Pintxos bars (Basque tapas bars) compete to have the best and most creative inventions. Seaside restaurants serve the best grilled fish you’ll ever have, and in the hamlets of the countryside, simple recipes shine with the flavors of the hills. Food is so central to Basque life that many Basques, traditionally but no longer only men, form cooking clubs (txokos) where members use professional kitchens to cook for each other and their friends. Even economical midday menus in the cities will surprise you with the purity of flavor in their dishes.

You can eat all the Michelin star meals you could want in the Basque Country. But trust me, you won’t want many because the food everywhere you go is so good. I say eat like the Basques do: traditional food made with great products sourced and produced in Euskadi, in bars and restaurants and cooking clubs. Then you’ll understand what all the fuss has been about.

The Wines of Rioja

The Guggenheim Museum, erected on Bilbao’s redeveloped riverfront where shipbuilding instalations once stood, is the symbol of Bilbao’s success. While San Sebastián has deep connections to France, Bilbao is Basque and proud. Impeccable 19th-century construction from its glory days as the heart of Basque shipping sit next to the glimmering hotels, apartments, and corporate headquarters that remind you that you are in the economic center of the region. You’ll find pintxos here, as in San Sebastián, but with a more local feel. From decades-old eateries overlooking the city to creative cuisine at seafood-specialized Mina and Nerua restaurants, Bilbao is the perfect place to see and feel the identity of today’s Basque Country.

Private Guggenheim Museum Tour

Visit the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao–the iconic building designed by Frank Gehry and responsible for Bilbao’s urban resurgence. Your private guide is an expert in the Guggenheim’s permanent collection and the exhibits.

Bilbao Pintxos Tour Dinner

Bilbao is still under the radar in terms of the food on offer. Once you see the mix of authentic and modern pintxos bars in the plazas and on the narrow streets of the Old Town you will know you’ve “discovered” a secret. Head to Plaza Nueva with your private guide for a gourmet’s choice of pintxos bars where you order from the spread on the bars. You’ll be rubbing elbows with local Bilbao residents who love having pintxos and glasses of wine with friends.

Day 2 – San Sebastián

• Private transfer to San Sebastián

• Private gastronomic club lunch in San Sebastián

• Transfer back to Bilbao after lunch

• Dinner at Mina

• Overnight Bilbao

Private Gastronomic Club Lunch in San Sebastián

Your local food and wine specialist guide will pick you up at the hotel for a private lunch in San Sebastian. Go to the market to buy the ingredients for your lunch. Seafood will likely figure on the menu as it is plentiful and fresh in San Sebastian. Then it’s on to a private gastronomic club where your guide is a member. Here you’ll get to enjoy the products you bought, some of which are ready to eat and some of which will be cooked while you enjoy local wine, talk and relax. A true Basque lunch in the region’s most authentic food and wine environment.

Dinner at Mina

Mina is the smallest Michelin star restaurant in Bilbao, in a beautifully decorated space overlooking the inlet that splits and centers the city. It’s no coincidence that Bilbao’s Ribera Market is visible across the water, for Mina is a restaurant dedicated to market cuisine in its purest form. The chef goes there daily to buy the best local products, building the ever-changing tasting menus around what is fresh and in season. Seafood is always a major presence at Mina, but the best of the Basque countryside is also on display. Whether you opt for one of the tables or the kitchen-facing bar, Mina is a singular experience. Each dish is pure distillation of the land and the sea of Bizkaia. A constantly changing menu demands a talented sommelier, and Mina delivers a fantastic wine experience with a special focus on small producers. Whether you opt for the wine pairing or explore the extensive wine list, you’ll find plenty of exciting wines and unique pairings.

Day 3 – The Heart of Rioja

• Private transfer from Bilbao to Rioja

• Finca La Emperatriz winery visit

• Gómez Cruzado winery visit

• Lunch at Nublo

• Overnight Rioja

Rioja

Rioja feels a world apart from the nearby Basque Country. The towns and villages are dominated by ancient castles, churches and monasteries, but most of all by wineries. Vineyards are everywhere, but the wineries have always been in town in the Rioja. In honorary wine capital Haro, the Station Quarter is full of them, their famous names and tasting rooms beckoning. The mountains protecting Rioja to the North and the South make this region a wine sanctuary. Great wine is everywhere: at the pintxos bars of Haro and Logroño, the traditional restaurants in Laguardia and Casalarreina, and the cavernous cellars of Michelin-star restaurants. The food ranges from rustic to refined, but is consistently local, seasonal, and high-quality. Above all, Rioja is beautiful. Perfectly preserved medieval villages, rolling hills covered in vines whose leaves paint them in jewel tones every fall, sprawling old wineries full of ancient barrels next to psychedelic new complexes. You could come here just to look at it all, but thankfully the wine is as spectacular and diverse as the country itself.

The Wines of Rioja

There is a well-established style of classic Rioja: savory, age-worthy reds dominated by Tempranillo but nearly always with small amounts of Graciano, Mazuelo, Garnacha, or even white Viura. These wines eschew single plots, instead opting to blend vineyards and even bring specific varieties from far-flung corners of the Rioja. Old American oak is often preferred to French. Many Riojas carry age certifications instead of varieties or vineyards. Crianzas are entry-level barrel-aged wines that can be very serious and great value. Reservas must have more bottle-aging than crianzas, and often age longer in oak as well. The reserva category includes some of the greatest wines in Rioja, for more is not always better when it comes to oak. Finally, the gran reservas spend at least two years in oak, often much, much more. These are the top of the classic categories, and many producers reserve their best plots for gran reservas and only produce them in exceptional vintages. Most classic Riojas can age for years, but gran reservas are built for the long haul, and the best examples will likely outlive the winemaker and the buyer.

Many quality Rioja producers have moved away from this aging-based system or changed their methods to produce a different sort of wine. Starting in the 1990s, French oak, often new, became popular among the top winemakers in Rioja. Producers like Remírez de Ganuza, Artadi, and Contador showed that French oak can make Riojas that match or even surpass those made in the old way. Single-plot wines have risen with the fortunes of new producers, many of them varietal wines of Tempranillo. New regulations allowing subregion and village labelling have firmly split Rioja producers: some have stuck with the old ways, while others have done their best Burgundy impression, producing separate wines from each distinct plot and aiming for pure terroir expression rather than consistent blends. The good news for wine lovers is that Rioja now has more diversity of fine reds than at any time in recent memory.

No wine region in Spain stands still these days, and Rioja has its own rebels and innovators pushing the boundaries. Small producers have found plots of old vines all over the Rioja, from the foot of the mountains in the Northwest to Rioja Oriental in the far east. These often contain field blends, and some producers are even taking advantage of quality Graciano, Mazuelo, and Garnacha vineyards to make varietal wines. In garage wineries you’ll see French oak, but also massive oak foudres, cement vats and amphoras. In Rioja Alavesa producers are returning to the tradition of carbonic maceration of whole bunches, the Riojan version of Beaujolais nouveau. Clarete can even be found, a full-bodied rosé style made from a blend of red and white grapes. Innovation is all around, and should continue to bring great new wines onto the market in the years to come.

Rioja means red to many people, but white Rioja is far from an afterthought. There is a classic style of white Rioja that once had many examples but today is mostly synonymous with one name: Viña Tondonia. Stubbornly traditional producer López de Heredia ages this white wine for years in American oak and years more in bottle before release: the Gran Reserva release can be over 20 years old before it appears on shelves. This kind of white Rioja is a strong contender for the most age-worthy dry white wine in the world: bottles over 40 years old can be not only drinkable, but still feel young!

Viura, the main white Rioja grape, can produce wonderfully subtle wines when treated with care. Many wineries new and old have begun to focus on white wines as well-made examples have led the way. Some are made to be drunk young, while others follow the footsteps of Tondonia and age for years. Other grapes are appearing as well, with Garnacha Blanca, Malvasia, and recent mutation Tempranillo Blanco showing up in blends and varietal wines. One small producer makes no fewer than six different white Riojas! This is a category to watch.

Finca La Emperatriz Winery Visit

Finca La Emperatriz is a singular estate in the cool, western corner of Rioja, a sort of Riojan chateau. The property once belonged to the wife of Napoleon III, the last empress of France, from which it gets its name. Today it’s known for producing a handful of exceptional white and red Riojas exclusively from the plots surrounding the winery. Old vines, chalky soils, and the cooling influence of the nearby mountains make Finca La Emperatriz’s wines exceptionally elegant.

Visit the property, including the chateau and the estate vineyards, before tasting Finca La Emperatriz’s finest wines.

Gómez Cruzado Winery Visit

Gómez Cruzado is the most innovative producer in Haro’s Station Quarter, home to Rioja’s traditional stalwarts. It’s an old winery with new ideas, making all of its wines in a tiny building down the street from Rioja giants Rioja Alta, Muga and López de Heredia. It makes classic Riojas blending Tempranillo, Garnacha, and other grapes from the best vineyards in Rioja, but Gómez Cruzado’s cult status comes from its premium terroir-focused wines. The white Montes Obarenes blends usual and unusual white grapes into one of the most acclaimed white Riojas on the market. Cerro Las Cuevas is sourced from old vines planted with a classic Riojan blend, but ages in large foudres for a fresher profile that showcases the vineyard. Finally, Pancrudo is one of the wines that put Rioja Garnacha on the map. This expressive, fragrant single vineyard red enchants enthusiasts and critics alike, and has become one of Rioja’s cult wines.

Lunch at Nublo

Nublo is the brainchild of Mugaritz alumni who came to the center of Haro to bring out the best of Rioja’s products and dishes. The restaurant occupies an impeccably restored palace in Haro’s old part. All of the cooking is done using wood, whether in the wood oven, on the grill, or on the traditional Basque wood-powering stove. Expect a tasting menu that highlights seasonal Riojan products alongside excellent fish and seafood sourced from the waters of the nearby Basque coast. To accompany the pure flavors of the menu, Nublo boasts a cellar packed with wines from Rioja and around Spain, where you’ll find classic bottles alongside rarities from talented growers. The restaurant’s opening in Haro in 2021 made an immediate impact, so much so that in less than six months Nublo earned a Michelin star.

Day 4 – Basque Rioja

• Amaren winery visit

• Remírez de Ganuza winery tasting

• Lunch at Héctor Oribe

• Laguardia visit

• Overnight Rioja

Amaren Winery Visit

Amaren (of the mother in Basque) is the premium winery of innovative Riojan grower Luis Cañas in the village of Samaniego. Amaren began with the family’s oldest and most unique vineyards, and today it’s a benchmark for careful, exceptional Riojan winemaking. Plots of old vines, some over a century old, provide the fruit for Amaren’s range of wines. The Crianza is fresh and attractive, a beloved wine in Spain, but Amaren’s reputation has been built on its varietal wines and single vineyard bottlings. From rare Malvasia Riojana to singular old vineyards of Tempranillo, a tasting of Amaren’s wines is a masterclass in the past and present of Riojan growing and winemaking.

Remírez de Ganuza Winery Tasting

This elite Rioja winery represents the balance of tradition and modernity. Founder Fernando Remírez de Ganuza acquired some of the best and oldest vineyards in Rioja Alavesa thanks to his work as a vineyard broker. Remírez de Ganuza burst onto the wine scene with a Reserva, and later a Gran Reserva, with modern concentration and new French oak balanced by technical perfection and a commitment to the Riojan tradition of long aging. The wines are made in a new building in the tiny village of Samaniego built so carefully from local stone that it could have been there forever. In addition to the Reserva and Gran Reserva, the winery makes some of the best white wines in Rioja, including a rare white Gran Reserva, multiple impeccable red Reservas, and Trasnocho, an incredibly aromatic and concentrated wine that is a benchmark for “generic” Rioja reds.

Lunch at Héctor Oribe

The only restaurant in the tiny village of Páganos, Héctor Oribe is a hidden gem. Chef Héctor and his wife run this charming and comfortable little restaurant, where Héctor puts his own surprising twists on traditional Riojan and Basque ingredients and dishes. Héctor previously worked at three Michelin star Arzak in San Sebastián, so his technique is always impeccable. The wine list features many wines from Rioja, and this is an especially good place to discover small producers whose wines are unknown outside of the region.

Laguardia Visit

Explore the old town of the beautiful hilltop village of Laguardia with your guide. The village is home to a number of preserved medieval buildings, and its narrow streets transport the visitor back in time. The views over the surrounding countryside, which is home to some of Rioja’s best vineyards, are stunning.

Day 5 – Departure

• Private transfer to the Bilbao airport for departure

Bilbao & Rioja Wine Tour

Trip Information

Hotel

Bilbao - 2 nights

Hotel Miro - Modern 4-star hotel across the street from the Guggenheim Museum. Rooms offer stunning views of the Guggenheim. Great service and easy access to visits and dining options in the center of Bilbao.

Rioja - 2 nights

Hotel Santa María Briones - Luxurious hotel in a beautifully restored palace in the heart of the hilltop town of Briones. Each room and public space has been furnished to highlight the historic building’s features while bringing modern comfort. The new vision of luxury in Rioja.

Trip Includes

• 4 nights hotel, double occupancy

• breakfast daily in the hotel

• 2 lunches with wine

• pintxos tour dinner with wine

• expert private guides

• private premium wine tasting

• private transportation for wine touring

• restaurant reservations and recommendations

• full trip planning

• in-country trip assistance and on-the-ground support

• Epicurean Ways expertise

Not Included

• flights to/from Spain and flights within Spain

• tips to guides and drivers (optional but appreciated)

• travel insurance (recommended)

• extra charges in hotels (minibar, room service, etc)

A note on restaurant selections and hotels

All tours, experiences and hotels are subject to availability and will be confirmed upon booking the trip.

We include restaurant concierge service as part of your trip. Note that our restaurant suggestions are just that–suggestions. Places we love, places to go back to time after time. We recommend these places after years of experience eating in Spain and Portugal together with frequent research and input from our local partners. We aspire to guide your choices with information on the styles of cuisine and restaurants; the choice on where to eat is yours based on your preferences and desires.

We have included hotel options ranging from 5-star luxury properties to small boutique hotels. Let us know your preferences and we will tailor the hotel choices for you.

Trip Prices

Note that we can customize this trip for you. Add days in your arrival or departure city or in other locations or make changes to the experiences, winery visits, restaurants, or hotels included in the trip. Whatever it is, we’re here to work with you. Once you’re happy with the trip plan and have some idea of your dates we will calculate and send you the price.

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