- Wine shopping
Our second day of driving took us from Basque Country into La Rioja, where you are basically required to shop for wine. Bryan picks out three bottles at a little shop in Haro: one Crianza, one Reserva, and one Gran Reserva. - Vineyards
The countryside was ridiculously picturesque. This shot was taken from the parking lot of an over-the-top museum about wine-growing/making/loving, looking toward the town of Briones. - IMG_2583
cathedral in the dark - IMG_2582
Bryan enjoys our "obligatory" glass of wine in the hotel lobby. When in La Rioja... - IMG_2581
Almost without exception, our hotels had wonderful teensy balconies - IMG_2580
view from our hotel balcony in Logroño - IMG_2579
We were very excited to see this bull silhouette, which was featured on the cover of our guidebook, until we drove a little more and realized they're all over the damn place. - IMG_2578
again - IMG_2576
more stunningly red grapewines - IMG_2575
purportedly the world's largest corkscrew collection - IMG_2574
okay, and popular art - IMG_2573
an exhibit of wine-related fine art - IMG_2572
An exhibit with all the aromas found in Rioja wine, smellable - IMG_2571
a triple-press, each with an individual, religiousy name - IMG_2570
another giant-ass press - IMG_2569
more tools for barrel-making - IMG_2568
corks-in-progress - IMG_2567
barrel-making exhibit - IMG_2566
more old presses - IMG_2565
Bryan poses and Leslie fails to align a shot with a giant old wine press. - IMG_2564
This museum had a fabulous amount of historical equipment for wine growing, harvesting, pressing, bottling... - IMG_2563
photo and tools used by winemakers of the 19th century - IMG_2562
Spanish grape varieties - IMG_2559
another look at Briones from the parking lot of the Dinastia Vivanco museum - IMG_2558
Leslie, vineyard - IMG_2557
Leslie gets personal with some wine grapes. - IMG_2555
Vineyard and the small town of Briones. - IMG_2552
Storks' nest. We saw plenty of nests but no birds, which must have sought warmer climbs for the winter. Apparently storks are a whole big thing. - IMG_2551
random scene in town - IMG_2550
Bryan peruses some wine in a Haro shop. We left with a bottle each of Crianza, Reserva, and Gran Reserva, three designations of various age and quality in Rioja wines.