bodegas valdelana

The town is no big deal, there are bigger and more famous bodegas (with the Marquéz de Riscal hotel on the grounds, designed by Frank Gehry!) but I'm really glad we went to this one on the recommendation of a friend in the business. The tour was unusual in that the techniques they use for us to appreciate and understand the wines were not like any I have experienced. They also have a very nice museum, and some of the very old parts of the bodega to demonstrate older methods in wineries. Apparently there is also a small hotel in the building. When we stepped outside the large trucks loaded with grapes were pulling in! The town it's in is called "El Ciego" - the blind man - and some of their labels have braille on them!

Thanks for your opinion! We are really happy that you enjoyed our tour and we hope seeing you in the near future. Best regards from La Rioja!!

Thank you very much for your opinion! We are really happy to know that you enjoyed our winery, museum and area ;) I hope we can see you again in the future. Best regards from Spain!!

Thank you very much for your opinión! It was really nice meeting you and I hope to see you in the future again. Best regards from Rioja Alavesa. Noelia.

NOTE: This review is for the Agroturismo/hotel part of Valdelana, not the vineyard tour.We booked here thinking it would be a vineyard, not a hotel right smack in the middle of a small, but very busy town. The building is right on the main drag, where all the vineyards around are coming through with their trucks, tractors, etc and so is really noisy, especially if your room (as ours did) faces that road. They were also doing some renovations, so there was noise from inside as well. The rooms are very, very small with our bathroom also being small so that the door into it didn't actually open all the way. And we could barely walk around the end of the bed to get to the other side of room, unless you opened the terrace doors (which also only opened a little as the bed was right there (see photos). Others we met staying at the same time all said the same - how small the rooms were.The only saving grace is the communal kitchen/lounge which we used a lot and even cooked dinner in a couple of nights and lit the fire, as there was a cold spell when we were there.Ours also had some maintenance issues - the hairdryer in the bathroom was attached to an outlet which was hanging half out of the wall. Although they have wifi, it only works if you go downstairs to their entranceway and sit in one of the chairs just outside the front door. Our room didn't have air conditioning (least we couldn't see any evidence of it) and so I would think it would be really hot in the summer, and not wanting to open the terrace doors because of the noise, wouldn't be very nice.The breakfast was next door at a really nice restaurant but, although the lunch we had there was really good, the breakfast was not much and so we didn't bother to have it after the first morning. It was just coffee, juice, a sweet bun and some hard breads w/ olive oil.We never got our free vineyard tour because of it being around May Day and also we went out to see the dinosaur footprints so came back late, so can't comment on that part.The area is nice if you aren't just interested in wine - there are quite a lot of ancient Dolmens around and the dinosaur footprints aren't too far away, but if we went back to the area, we wouldn't return to Elciego.

Excellent tour of wine museum learnt more in hour and a half than I could believe. Tour lady was excellent knowledgable and lovely. Far out waked marques de riscal tour regarding area history. Well worth it!

We were impressed with the facilities and service during our two night stay at Valdelana. The staff are very friendly; Noelia gave us a very interesting tour of the museum, all conducted in very good english!The room was modern, comfortable, clean and quiet. It is right in the center of town, with easy access to some interesting and well signposted walks through the vinyards.The wines we tried were superb. We look forward to a return visit next year.Thanks for making us so welcome!

Even though you are literally facing a more prominent neighbor from your window (Hotel Marques de Riscal), this winery-hotel offers you a unique experience that is hard to beat. Family run historical Bodega is full of little surprises. The museum explains history and the process of wine making brought to the region by Romans and started by Valdelana family in the 16th century.We loved our communication and interaction with Juan Jesus who gave us his undivided attention and was more than patient with our limited knowledge of Spanish. This was the most memorable experience on this trip. I have to mention that all the rooms have unique design and antique furniture. The bathrooms/ showers are very small and not suitable for people with weight problems.

La visita al museo muy instructiva y amena, con un personal muy atento y amable,que te lleva con todos los sentidos, al fascinante mundo del vino. Al terminar la visita(que se hace corta),te ofrecen una cata de sus vinos muy bien orientada, que te ayuda a identificar, reconocer , y degustar sus productos. Disfrutamos mucho en la visita. La visita es gratuita, si estas alojado.

Estuvimos dos personas pasando una noche con visita a la bodega y cata. No puedo decir más que fue todo genial incluso el agua que cayó durante todo el fin de semana.El trato con los clientes en todo momento fue cercano y familiar y la oferta a la bodega y posterior cata muy bonito. Desde luego se lo aconsejamos a quien quiera disfrutar de un sitio tranquilo y con gente educada.Por cierto que el vino nos gustó mucho, de hecho es el que consumimos ahora (Duquesa de la Victoria)

Nos gustó todo. Sobre todo la buena acogida de su personal y la visita a su museo/bodega dedicada al vino.

Muchísimas gracias por dejar tu opinión! Nos alegramos mucho de que os encontraráis a gusto en nuestra casa y esperamos que volváis muy pronto ;) Ha sido un placer conoceros! Un abrazo desde Elciego.

A Bodega Valdelana está com a mesma família desde o Sec. XVIII. Situa-se numa rotunda onde no passado se cruzavam 6 estradas da Rioja. Essa história do lugar, da região e é claro, dos vinhos, é contada de uma maneira muito hospitaleira, durante a visita guiada (é paga). Ela dura cerca de 45 minutos e inclui uma deliciosa degustação. A maior parte dos visitantes são espanhóis mesmo e pode ser que você seja o único estrangeiro no grupo. Não contarei os detalhes para não estragar a surpresa, mas se estiver por perto, não deixe de ir. Dicas: pode levar as crianças, não vá se você tem claustrofobia, tem dois ótimos restaurantes (já fiz resenha dos dois) ao lado, então pode juntar o almoço ou jantar na programação. Outra observação: a visita é em espanhol.

Muchas gracias por dejar tu opinión! Nos alegramos mucho de que te gustara el proyecto de nuestra bodega-museo, buscamos mostraros la historia del vino en la zona, algo diferente e innovador a los usuales depósitos que podéis ver en cualquier lugar. Esperamos que volvais pronto! Un gran saludo!

Muchas gracias por dejar tu opinión. Lamentamos mucho no haber sabido trasladarte nuestra pasión por este proyecto. Siempre intentamos que nuestros clientes tengan una bonita experiencia pero sentimos no haber sido capaces. Si en el futuro decidieseis venir por esta zona estaremos encantados de intentarlo nuevamente.Un saludo.