Bodegas Campo Viejo — Attraction in Logroño

We worked with the representatives from Pernod, like Raul Cotelo to make arrangements for a tour and tasting. At 12 euros, it was the best buy on day 1 of our 7 day adventure into 25 wineries in La Rioja.

We were greeted by a most informed employee who hosted the tour and tasting. He took us through a discussion of the vineyards which really enlightened us. Part of the tour was a walk through the fermentation and storage tanks. It is an immense structure, all working by gravity feed and no pumping anywhere. See photos which represent only a fraction of the stainless steel tank capacity. We were staggered by the fact that they are able to keep individual lots/vineyards separated from dozens of growers during the fermentation and oak barrel ageing processes. That approach takes a huge commitment to storage. They do it to preserve the best product for later bottling and blending. Very impressive.

Since La Rioja DOC requires varying lengths of bottle aging of Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva, much of the inventory is tied up in bottles awaiting labeling. Lots of warehouse space is allocated to do this bottle aging. See photos and realize that again, it represents only a portion of the floor space for their production.

This was our first tasting of La Rioja wines in a Bodega. What we were expecting was the mini-sipping quantities so commonly poured in CA. What we got were glasses which were 1/2 filled and revisiting offered on all wines. We loved the Spanish/Basque hospitality of La Rioja Enotourism, but noting that we were driving, we had to manage our intake. DUI blood levels are lower in Spain.

At the end of the tour, we sampled 4 wines (and local food products for pairing) including a rarely made commemorative wine. It was simply divine.

We would not hesitant to offer any of the Campo Viejo wines to friends and family. They were expertly made and it showed in the bottle. Campo Viejo has combined high volume with high quality wine production. We did not know it at the time, but we would only find that unique capability at one other La Rioja winery. We later found many large and small producers who did not measure up to the quality of Campo Viejo.

Bravo, to the owners of Campo Viejo. We are now looking for...

We have always liked Campo Viejo wine we bought in our country. Campo Viejo is branded at all over the world with very international focus and large good quality production. But our experience at the winery was terrible I have to say, we could only visit the winery today as a tourist. The girl at the reception said the tour will be in Spanish, and then she ignored completely us during the 1h30m tour, with only two sentences in English: did you understand anything in the beginning? And did you enjoy the tour in the end? You could have gave a bit more care and effort to your international customers who have always bought and liked your wine in our country. But she seems to be too arrogant to say a few more words in English to explain things, even though she speaks perfect English. I wonder how long your brand will continue abroad, but I still write this review to help you improve your business, even though your terrible attitude and stuff has gave us such a bad impression for this Spanish -...

Taking my guests from Off Road & Overland Adventures Ltd to Campo Viejo at least once a year I have to say this year's tour has been even better than past years. Joana, our guild was absolutely amazing and showed us things that I had not seen on previous tours and for that this deserves a 5* review as being a travel guide myself I had moments of surprise like my guests do and got that amazed 1st time feeling all over again. The tasting after the tour is fantastic and Joana really did know her stuff as she found us wines that were not on the shelf as well as guiding us through new tastes. We will see...