La Rioja VIP Wine Tasting Weekend:
Are your clients or top execs wine lovers? Do you want to find a trip to take them on that leaves an
incredible impression? Well, this is it! La Rioja is Spain's most well-known wine region and
is a gorgeous, unspoiled area full of medieval villages, castles, historic wineries,
hidden winemakers restaurants and charming hotels. While other famous European wine
regions such as Bordeaux and Tuscany can be saturated with tourists, La Rioja is
virtually untouched, and much more pleasurable to visit. We can organize a luxury
tour for your special VIPs to take in a long weekend of La Rioja, easily accessible
from Bilbao (which has plenty of flights from the UK), that we promise will be much
more fun and interesting than the same old golf trip. Here is a sample tour to give you
an idea of a weekend we can organize.
This fabulous gourmet tour of Spain takes in some of the top wineries in the prestigious
region of La Rioja, spectacular scenery in Basque Country; a visit to the avante-garde
Titanium Guggenheim Museum; and a fascinating visit to the monastery and Extraordinary
Castle in Olite. Navarre. Gourmet meals will be enjoyed throughout the trip, including
an unforgettable welcome meal in an Art Nouveau "castle", where your Poet host will
entertain you with a creative 6-course feast and commentary between courses. On this
unique tour, you'll savour delicious wines in cellars dating back to the 1880's, and
travel through pine-forested hills to visit some of Spain's most charming medieval
villages. You will receive private VIP visits to the wineries and be received by the
owners, winemakers or head representatives of each company. Transportation will be by
comfortable Mercedes with your friendly and knowledgeable Bilngual Chauffeur/Guide.
The scenery from Bilbao to La Rioja is lovely and lush, and the cuisine is excellent.
Salud!
The tour begins when you are met at Bilbao airport (designed by famed Spanish architect
Santiago Calatrava) by your chauffeur guide and you will enjoy a welcome aperitif in the
nearby Plaza Nueva to get you relaxed before travelling south to the lovely region of
La Rioja. The first day will consist of wine tasting, relaxing and great scenery. The
first stop is a VIP winery visit to Rioja's prettiest winery, Marques de Murrieta,
complete with a walk in the vineyards, tour of the ancient castle and wine tasting of old
vintages. Next, on to the medieval village where your luxury hotel is located, where you
will have a chance to settle in. Your pre-dinner cocktail will be served in the turret of
the castle by your personal black tie waiter, where you can take in the dramatic views of
the vine covered valley and the Cantabrian mountains. Dinner will be long and lesiurely,
with various regional dishes paired with Reserva and Gran Reserva Rioja wines. Overnight
in a Castle in a lovely room with views of the vines.
Day 2 will have a comfortable late start, no rushing on this tour! You'll visit
Marques de Riscal, one of the oldest wineries in Spain (founded in the 1860's).
You'll receive a private tour of cellars, installations, and see the site of the new
wine hotel being designed by the Guggenheim's Frank Gehry. A full wine tasting of the
whole range will follow and then a fantastic lunch in a rustic winemakers haunt.
The afternoon will include a visit to the beautiful village of Olite and a digestive
climb up the castle. A wonderful dinner will be planned for you at a 16th century
Nobleman's house, now a gourmet restaurant just a few minutes walk from the hotel.
The specialty is seafood, which will contrast nicely with the lamb and roasts you will
enjoy in the previous meals. Highlights of day 3 and the morning of day 4 will include
a stay in San Sebastian, Spain's most aristocratic city (in a beachfront Belle Époque
hotel with sea views), a "Tapas Tour" of the old town and finally a visit to the massive
work of architectural wonder, the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao. This will conclude your
VIP wine tasting weekend in La Rioja, and we can confidently tell you this will be one of
your best corporate trips ever!
|
