Rioja Alavesa wine tasting, become an expert!

Taste the wines of Rioja Alavesa through a guided tasting, getting to know their characteristic smell, taste and color.

The Villa Lucia wine theme center offered us a didactic and entertaining tasting in which we learned to catalog each of the different wines that this incredible land called Rioja Alavesa offers us. The tasting took place in Vitoria-Gasteiz in one of the many events in which Villa Lucia is present to spread the wine culture of our town.

Different varieties of the Berarte winery

During the tasting, they encouraged competitiveness among those present, making all of them more involved in this activity. The winner of the workshop was the one who got the most smells, flavors and colors right, thus winning a big bag with products from the Basque Country.

The Villa Lucia Wine Thematic Center is located in Laguardia, one of the most charming municipalities in the Rioja Alavesa. In it, it is possible to carry out wine tourism activities of all kinds under reservation and without reservation, wine tasting initiation courses every Saturday of the year. In addition, we will have the opportunity to learn about the history and traditions of wine in an entertaining and interactive way through audiovisuals, virtual tastings of aromas, models and a short film in 4D.

Detail of rioja alavesa wine

If you want to become an expert, we recommend starting with an initialization tasting, in which the experts divide this incredible experience by senses or perceptions and show us the reason for each characteristic of the wines of Rioja Alavesa.

–Color: To correctly appreciate the color of the wine to be tasted, we recommend tilting the glass until the true color of the wine can be seen. In the most extreme part of the glass, almost to spill, we can appreciate that reddish color that depending on the wine to be tasted goes from the light raspberry colors to the darkest tones for the crianzas.

Wine color tasting of rioja alavesa wine

–Smell: To check its smell, it is advisable to shake the glass so that the wine travels along the walls of the glass and thus unveils its smell. With this tasting we can know the material of the barrel where it has been stored or the grape variety with which it has been made.

–Flavor: The last of the senses to check and undoubtedly one of the most important is the flavor. In order to correctly appreciate the taste of rioja alavesa wine, we must keep the wine in our mouth for approximately 8 seconds, stirring it and getting the maximum flavor out of it. Once ingested, it should also be appreciated if the wine we are tasting leaves an aftertaste after ingestion.

As you can see, 3 small details that keep the essence of a good wine. If you want to know more details about the wines of Rioja Alava or the tastings, do not hesitate to visit Villa Lucia.

In order to train our senses, we are recommended to do two small exercises in which smell and sight are essential.

Exercise to work on smell: In this exercise, we find a variety of glasses on the table and each one of them contains liquids with different smells. In our tasting sheet we have several possible options of which we can only mark one, the correct one. In these glasses we find from rotten eggs to good wines from Rioja Alavesa, do you dare with the challenge?

Color tasting exercise

Exercise to work on sight: On a table we find a support to present the glasses lying down, this support facilitates the color tasting of each one of them. Will we be able to distinguish a wine of the year from a great crianza?

Scent tasting exercise

As you can see, a wine tasting in Rioja Alavesa is a spectacular experience that we recommend to accompany a visit to a winery, without a doubt a great plan to spend a great weekend.