Spanish Wine Country - La Rioja, Logrono, Spain

Spanish wine is tragically underrated. Looking back on my waitressing days, I can’t count how many times I tried to sell a table a bottles of a Spanish red only to watch them turn up their nose and pick something from Sonoma or France instead. Many people are ignorant of the wonder of Spanish wine, and it’s a shame that Spain hasn’t captivated the market quite like France or Italy.

For a quick weekend getaway, my friend Alex and I went up to Logroño, the primary city in the La Rioja region of Spain. It’s about four hours by bus from Madrid, we bought our tickets on Alsa which were about €40 roundtrip. The city was covered in clouds and assaulted by a relentless drizzle of rain the entire time we were there, but that didn’t stop us from eating and drinking our way through the city.

The main thing to do in La Rioja is eat, and the main place to do it is on Calle Laurel. It’s more than just the one street – it’s a little corner of the town that is brimming with bars, each serving unique tapas and delicious Spanish wines of the region. These are just a few of some of the things that we consumed over the course of the weekend – I think you’d be safe to try any of the places in this area of Logroño – get the tapa of the house! ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).