4 things to do in Haro, Rioja, Spain | Quazy Rides Riding the Rioja | Motorcycle tour

4 things to do in Haro, Rioja, Spain | Quazy Rides Riding the Rioja | Motorcycle tour

Haro is the centre of the Rioja Alta and a very   nice city and therefore the central  point of our Riding the Rioja tour. Rioja is an unprecedentedly famous red  Spanish wine. The name stands for the region   in Spain where the wine comes from:  La Rioja. So it’s not a type of grape,  

But it’s a type of wine and therefore, unlike  Chardonnay or Merlot for instance, Rioja wine can   only come from this region in Spain. Besides the  red wines with the typical soft taste you can also  

Find white and rose Riojas. The Rioja is located in the  Northern part of Spain and consists of 3 regions. The Rioja Baja, the Rioja Alavesa and the Rioja Alta. The whole region is supplied  with water by the river Ebro  

Running through the centre of the region with  several branches that supply the region with   water. In the second half of the 19th century  wine transports shifted from horse-drawn   carriages to rail cars. And because of the  infestations of grapes in their own country  

Wine makers from France, the Bourgogne, came  to this area near Haro. A lot of bodegas were   established near the station just North of Haro  and even nowadays you will still find the most   ancient bodegas in the world. The wine trade  between the Rioja and France following the Bilbao  

Tudela Line crossing Haro was inaugurated in  1863 and the start of the Barrio de la Estacion.   The founder of Vina Tondonia Don Rafael de la  Heredia, an enthusiastic wine student, followed   the negotiants from France here to this area in  search of alternative sources for quality grapes  

To turn into wine. He fell in love with the  region and especially the area around Haro. He   observed that there was a magical combination  between the soil and the climate to offer the   perfect environment to make quality wines, later  to become world famous. In 1877 he started the  

Design and construction of this complex now the  oldest Bodega in Haro. We are visiting the bodega   Gomez Cruzado claiming to be the boutique winery  of the Barrio de la Estacion. And although they   have a team of young winemakers they do hold  to the tradition of old Riojen style wines.

So history was made here in the Barrio  de la Estacion and Haro was one of the   first cities to benefit from the new modern  technologies that came by railway to Spain.   The thriving wine trade really  made Haro a wealthy city.

The first one that you’re going to taste is  Reserva 2010. Reservas that we have are a blend   between tempranillo, vernaca, graciano. This one is 100% tempranillo. Oh okay. And we collect the tempranillo from the you know the…

Have you seen the mountain range – yeah – behind  the winery that is called *sierra cantabria?* and just at the   bottom of it we picked the tempranillo from there,  because it’s about tempranillo is a grape that matures   quite early and picking it up from  there we manage to keep the * freshness??*

And the taste because it’s about 750 metres above sea level.  So I hope you enjoy it. Thank you. Categories? I’ve got my English help with here. The Rioja has  4 categories of wine: the Joven, the Crianza,   Reserva and Grand Reserva, all depending on how  long the wines have riped. And the bodegas use  

Their best grapes normally for the Reserva  and Grand Reserva. But also in the centre of Rioja’s unofficial capital, Haro, everything seems to revolve around wine. Of course you can   have a nice Rioja and some Spanish food in one  of the many bars, wine cellars, restaurants in  

The atmospheric historic centre surrounding  Haro’s lively centre the Plaza de la Paz   And in June Haro celebrates St. Peter’s Day or  the patron saint San Pedro with the Batalla del Vino,   the battle of the wine, as its climax. It’s a real  spectacle with thousands and thousands of people  

Attending every year on June 29th: our wedding  anniversary. We were already here on our 7th   wedding anniversary and we’re back for our 20th to  celebrate with some wine. On the days before June   29th there’s already a lot of things happening  in the city, especially on the central square the  

Plaza de la Paz, but on June 29th early in the  morning there’s a parade going to the Hermitage San Felice de Bilibio. And well a lot of people dressed in white follow  that parade. There is a mass there and then the  

Battle starts and soon everything will turn  pink because everyone is carrying something   that can contain wine: buckets, bottles, water  pistols, what have you and well there’s wine   everywhere. After the battle of the wine, and that  is when they’re out of wine or people start having  

Their lunch up there, apparently, they will  go into town, most of them after a shower,   and there’s another like parade going  into the central square Plaza de la Paz. Batalla del Vino! You go in white and you get out

Pink as we are looking now. If you ever want to  experience this fiesta June 29th every year. 13 years ago we were here as well we had to  walk up I think it was about 7 kilometres,  

But now there are buses going from the campsite  where we are staying and it will bring you up   well more than half way, but you still have to  walk up the little mountain, the hill. And um  

Going there around 8 is perfect. Dressed in white  and be prepared because you cannot be a spectator. We really enjoyed our stay in Haro  during our Riding the Rioja tour.   And if you like this video please  hit that like button and consider  

Subscribing to the channel and turning on  the notifications. And of course we also   have a video on recommended accommodations  in Haro, it’s in the middle of your screen.

For our motorcycle tours with 2 or 3 rides – that we add to our online roadtrip planner so YOU can use the tours in your own motorcycle roadtrip – we always choose a nice town for our and your stay. We call it the “central point” of the tour. And for our Riding the Rioja tour in Spain we chose Haro as our central point. In this video we share the 4 things we think you shouldn’t miss during your stay in Haro, Spain.

6 things to do in Haro:
0:00 Intro
0:28 Info and history on the Rioja area and Haro
2:10 Bodega de Vina Tondonia
2:51 Winetasting at Bodega Gomez Cruzado
5:08 Plaza de la Paz Haro
5:33 Batailla de Vino
9:42 Historic City Centre Haro

Of course we also have separate video’s on the accommodations we want to recommend – always WITH suitable parking for your bike – ánd the rides. We’ve got 2 rides in this tour. You can find them in the Riding the Rioja tour playlist here or in your account in our online roadtrip planner.

Interested in using the GPX files and E-books of the rides, visit https://www.quazyrides.com/tours/riding-the-rioja and add one or more rides of this tour to your account and you will be able to download the GPX files and E-books for FREE.

We are Johan and Muriel. We have a shared passion of riding our motorbikes and roadtripping all over Europe. We have added a mission to our passion: to share the fun of roadtripping with as many other bikers as possible. Therefor we will offer a planning tool to customize YOUR perfect roadtrip with OUR help.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please let us know on info@quazyrides.com

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Hoping to see you on one of our Quazy Rides soon!

Greetz , Johan and Muriel
Quazy Rides
www.quazyrides.com
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