- CVNE, Bodegas Bilbaínas-Viña Pomal, Gómez Cruzado, La Rioja Alta S.A., Muga and Bodegas RODA reveal the twelve emblematic labels which will be tasted during the tasting on 15 June in Haro, the great wine tourism event which is celebrating its fifth edition
The Cata del Barrio de la Estación 2024 (Haro Station Wine Experience), which will be held in Haro (La Rioja) on 15 June, will offer a journey of reinterpretation of the legacy of the great Rioja wines from the bodegas from this historic setting, through twelve emblematic labels which share their home in this legendary enclave. The winemaking experience converts this standout wine tourism event into a celebration of the culture of wine of the Barrio de la Estación (Station Quarter), the largest concentration of hundred-year-old wineries in the world and the source of the great fine wines of Rioja.
Over the course of the day’s tasting, participants in the Haro Station Wine Experience 2024 will be able to enjoy two wines in each of the six wine cellars, making a total of twelve wines: from CVNE, Imperial Reserva 2019 and Monopole Clásico Reserva 2020; from Bodegas Bilbaínas – Viña Pomal, Viña Pomal Gran Reserva 2015 and La Vicalanda Blanco 2022; from Muga, Torre Muga 2019 and Flor de Muga Rosado 2022; from Gómez Cruzado, Viña Dorana 2017 and Montes Obarenes Magnum 2017; from La Rioja Alta, S.A., Viña Arana Gran Reserva 2016 and Viña Ardanza 2017, and from Bodegas RODA, RODA 2020 and RODA I 2019. These will be accompanied by gastronomic delights provided by top names in Riojan and Spanish haute cuisine.
Tasting the diversity of the wines from the Barrio de la Estación
In its fifth edition, with all tickets already sold, the Cata del Barrio de la Estación is firmly established as a hallmark in top quality wine tourism and a cult gathering for lovers of Rioja wine, fine dining and culture. It is also an unmissable date for enjoying the diversity of styles of the six prestigious wineries, a reference in Spanish wine, who live alongside each other in the Barrio de la Estación (Station District) of Haro, a reflection of their commitment to preserving the essence of the great historic Rioja wines, based on their know-how, excellence and innovation to move with the times.
The wines chosen by the six bodegas for the 2024 Cata del Barrio de la Estación unveil the rich variety of the Rioja winemaking heritage, from respect for the origin, and are the expression of the best vineyards from which the prestigious wines are produced. They are all legendary Rioja wine brands, some of them dating back over a century, wines characterised by their finesse, elegance, balance and longevity.
Gran reservas as homage to the classics of Rioja with a modern twist, carefully blended wines that combine tradition and modernity, white wines made from autochthonous varieties with unique processes and great cellaring potential will all be tasted in the wineries of Haro’s Barrio de la Estación. In the 19th century, this enclave, which grew up around the tracks of the railway, witnessed a winemaking revolution for Rioja wines, thanks to the entrepreneurial ability of the winemakers, the advances in viticulture and oenology, an exchange of know-how and the trade with Bordeaux.
The programme of the 2024 Haro Station Wine Experience, the details of which will be revealed little by little, encompasses a whole day to enjoy the wines, the setting and the gastronomy, as well as music and the activities laid on by each of the bodegas in this unique, historic enclave, the main wine tourism destination in the region.
The Barrio de la Estación: quality seal in wine tourism and an international reference
The Cata del Barrio de la Estación in Haro, whose first edition was held in 2015, is a prizewinning wine and wine tourism experience, created by the emblematic, historic Spanish wine producers CVNE, Bodegas Bilbaínas – Viña Pomal, Gómez Cruzado, La Rioja Alta S.A., Muga and Bodegas RODA. Yet another example of the commitment and collaboration of the bodegas of the Barrio de la Estación to create a destination, bringing their diversity to a common goal: to make the Barrio de la Estación a quality wine tourism brand at international level, from their vocation to spread the culture of wine.
This event, praised by national and international press and media, has been awarded the ‘Best of Wine Tourism’ prizes by the ‘Great Wine Capitals’ network in 2015; the ‘Best Wine Tourism Experience’ in the International Wine Challenge Awards Spain in 2016 and the ‘Premio Rioja Capital a la Iniciativa Singular’, bestowed by the Government of La Rioja. The Cata del Barrio de la Estación has also received the distinction of the ‘Mejor Iniciativa Enoturística 2018’ from the Rutas del Vino de España and the ‘Mass Vino’ prize awarded by this association of journalists to the best wine tourism experience of the year. In addition, Verema has recently given it the ‘Premio al Mejor Proyecto de Enoturismo’. Furthermore, the Asociación del Barrio de la Estación has been recognised in the ‘Best of Wine Tourism’ awards of ‘Great Wine Capitals’ for their ‘Barrio de la Estación Tours’ experience in 2023.
The Haro Station Wine Experience is supported by Gobierno de La Rioja and Ayuntamiento de Haro and is sponsored by Cartonajes Santorromán, Argraf, Ramondín, Berthomieu – Ermitage Tonnellerie, Víctor y Amorim, Irundin, Agua 22, Ecotelia – Sorigué, AUDI – Rioja Motor and RIEDEL Euroselecció. Also partnering are Fusión Vínica, Bucher Vaslin Enolviz, Estuchería Vargas, Hideco, EMESA, Aceite de Oliva Virgen Extra AUBOCASSA and Embutidos G. Sobrón Martínez.
More information about the wines of The Haro Station Wine Experience 2024.
The wines of the 2024 Cata del Barrio de la Estación: Twelve emblematic Rioja labels
CVNE
IMPERIAL RESERVA 2019
Imperial first appeared in 1920, taking its name from the smallest bottles, the imperial pint, in which it was exported to the United Kingdom. Over a century later, it is still an iconic Rioja brand and is only produced in exceptional vintages. The expression of the diversity of the landscape of the region, with a blend of principally Tempranillo, with Garnacha, Graciano and Mazuelo from old vineyards in Villalba, Briones and Torremontalbo, three different towns and three valleys of the Rioja Alta, crossed by three tributaries of the Ebro, and then aged in the Eiffel cellar at CVNE with varying kinds of barrels, providing complexity. A perfect union of the fruit and long ageing, which gives it elegance, structure and longevity.
MONOPOLE CLÁSICO RESERVA 2020
Monopole was the first white wine trademark to be registered in Spain, in 1915. In these more than a hundred years, Monopole has evolved, restoring the winemaking method of the sixties, and also recuperating its classic label, to innovate from tradition. Made from Viura from vineyards cultivated under the shelter of the Montes Obarenes, the biological ageing is carried out through the development of a layer of yeast, the velo de flor in 300, 400 and 500-litre barrels, which gives it distinctive aromas, minerality and an acidity which makes it a unique fresh white wine which will last for a long time.
GÓMEZ CRUZADO
MONTES OBARENES SELECCIÓN TERROIR MAGNUM 2017
A tribute to the great white wines for laying down. Tradition in the winemaking process but with the innovation of including Tempranillo blanco, blended with the majority viura grape and other autochthonous varieties from old vineyards around Haro and the estate vineyard in Ollauri, small micro-parcels reformed so that they can be worked organically. A wine which aromatically is close to the great Riesling and in the mouth to the great Burgundy whites with its acidity, body and finesse.
VIÑA DORANA 2017
A historic Gómez Cruzado brand, the bodega’s oldest, appearing in the 1930s, as well as one of the earliest Rioja brands. Viña Dorana comes from estate vineyards in the upper Najerilla valley, small plots in Badarán, Cárdenas and Cordovín, tempranillos and garnachas from hundred-year-old vine plants, cultivated with the minimum possible intervention, but the maximum care. A reinterpretation of a classic Rioja, combining the essence and the know-how of the Barrio de la Estación with a more modern character, highlighting the fruit and the finesse and with less marked signs of ageing.
LA RIOJA ALTA S.A.
VIÑA ARANA GRAN RESERVA 2016
Viña Arana Gran Reserva is 50 years old, a benchmark for the classic Rioja style adapted to modern tastes. It blends Tempranillo with a touch of Graciano, the perfect complement for making a gran reserva. After careful cask- and bottle ageing, the finished wine is round and balanced, with freshness, intensity, sophistication and great cellaring potential.
VIÑA ARDANZA 2017
Since its origins in 1941 this is the insignia wine from La Rioja Alta S.A., an updated classic, a representative of the state-of-the-art classicism which defines the bodega. The blend of the majority Tempranillo grape from the Rioja Alta and Garnacha from the Rioja Baja, from La Pedriza in Tudelilla, and painstaking ageing in the cask and bottle produces a fresh, elegant, complex and long reserva with great ageing capacity and the identity of the classical wines from La Rioja Alta S.A.
BODEGAS BILBAÍNAS VIÑA POMAL
VIÑA POMAL GRAN RESERVA 2015
This wine represents the classic Rioja gran reserva, as a mark of respect for the legacy and tradition, faithful to its roots since its creation over a century ago in 1904. It is only made in exceptional vintages and with a limited number of bottles. The reflection of the vineyard from which it takes its name, tempranillos and gracianos from the landscape of the Rioja Alta, and the expression of the rich winemaking heritage which led to the Barrio de la Estación. Tradition in the concept and in the winemaking process, understood as elegance, to obtain a wine which stands the test of time.
LA VICALANDA BLANCO 2022
Innovation is the word to define the La Vicalanda family of wines, launched in the 90s, and consequently, La Vicalanda blanco, a wine which sets a new pattern in Bodegas Bilbaínas, a varietal white wine made from Tempranillo blanco from estate vineyards in Haro. The concept of sustainability is applied throughout the cultivation and winemaking process and it is made to express its origins and respect the fruit to the maximum, with a freshness and persistence that makes you want to keep drinking.
MUGA
FLOR DE MUGA ROSADO 2022
The origin of this wine is the Garnacha tinta grapes from a dozen plots in the Alto Najerilla and from the upper reaches of the Oja valley, bush vines over 70 years’ old and perfect soils for achieving the freshness and minerality necessary for rosados with a lot of complexity. It comes from the first, free-run must (mosto flor) from which 50 per cent is selected to ferment in small vats, separately plot by plot. After fermentation is complete it remains with its fine lees for four months, with regular stirring and then it is sampled, plot by plot, to carefully determine the final coupage. The result is a premium rosado, elegant, balanced, long and fresh, with structure which converts it into a gastronomic wine. Flor de Muga is homage to Grandmother Aurora, and to the Japanese cherry blossom from the tree she planted and which is still part of one corner of the bodega. And a tribute to the beauty which is reborn every year.
TORRE MUGA 2019
From its first vintage in 1991, Torre Muga has marked the way for the most international, top-of-the-range wines from the Muga family, a wine which brings tradition right up to date with a careful winemaking process which began with the desire of Isaac and Manuel Muga, the second generation of the family, to offer a wine with a more modern style and an international outlook. The grapes are sourced from Tempranillo, Graciano and Mazuelo vineyards, historic Muga family plots on the slopes of the Montes Obarenes. Utmost care is taken with the fermentation process and ageing in carefully selected new French oak, used in the bodega’s coopers’ shop to make the casks, to obtain a powerful red wine with a modern cut, with high expression of the fruit, complex, elegant and balanced, with good acidity and a very long finish, which is only made in the years considered by the Muga family as being excellent.
RODA
RODA 2020
This wine represents one of the two profiles of the ripening of the Tempranillo grape, the result of the search by RODA for the plots which ripened in 2020 with the sensation of red berry fruit. Very expressive, with the marked typicity of the RODA style. It unveils aromas and flavours to be sensed immediately; very pleasurable, with a nice freshness, making it an easy-to-drink wine with very fine tannin. Fruity, elegant, delicate and with good complexity.
RODA I 2019
RODA I is blended from mainly tempranillo plots, which in 2019 ripened with the sensation of dark fruit. It is a wine with personality, with intense dark berries, which complexity from the harmony and balance of the fruit character and the nuances from the ageing, with the wood very well integrated. A profound, mineral, full-bodied wine, with backbone, vigour and abundant, polished tannins. Fresh and mouth-filling at the same time, it is a wine which can be laid down for a long time and will continue to develop new nuances in its details and heightening its rich character in the bottle.
