Wine tourism on the Rioja Alta Wine Route, key to the sustainability, promotion and balance of the region

Wine tourism on the Rioja Alta Wine Route, key to the sustainability, promotion and balance of the region
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  • Our region has been crowned the country’s leading wine tourism destination by 2022.
  • Wine tourism creates jobs, preserves heritage, maintains the population and fights against depopulation.

Accommodation, restaurants, wineries, museums, wine cellars, leisure and active tourism companies, transport, incoming agencies… under the umbrella of the Rioja Alta Wine Route there are around 130 companies in the wine tourism sector that operate in small towns in Rioja Alta. Several of these companies took part in a meeting with some thirty journalists and specialists in gastronomy and tourism, held last week in Madrid. The aim: to convey the concept of sustainability in each of their businesses and areas of activity.

It was a passionate debate in which different points of view were expressed about sustainability and the current situation of the wine tourism sector as a driver of social development and job creation.

Thus, as Juan Carlos Sancha, oenologist, viticulturist and renowned professor of oenology, pointed out, “there is nothing more sustainable than a vineyard living more than 100 years. Sustainability begins by respecting our inherited viticultural heritage; therefore, it is necessary to recover and preserve our minority native varieties”.

For her part, Victoria González, Chief Sustainability Officer at González Byass, stressed that “we have the responsibility to care for the land where our vineyards and wineries are born. Let’s continue to build together a more sustainable route, both environmentally and socially, for the current and future generations”.

Finally, Miguel Caño, chef at Restaurante Nublo in Haro (1 Michelin star), stressed the idea that more and more agents in La Rioja “do not escape the challenge of using common sense to maintain and manage their resources, without mortgaging their future”.

Along with the testimonies of these companies located on the Rioja Alta Wine Route, the meeting also featured the sommelier of the Paco Roncero restaurant in Madrid, María José Huertas, who said that, in order to try to be sustainable, a balance must be found: “We must seek real and enforceable standards or rules. Between all of us, we add up to a lot”.

After the speeches and the feedback from the audience, the attendees were able to taste a menu prepared by El Jardín de Arzábal, where the meeting was held, and paired with wines from several wineries in Rioja Alta, such as Bodegas Sancha, owned by the speaker Juan Carlos Sancha; Bodegas La Rioja Alta, Bodegas Beronia, Bodegas Ruiz Alfaya and Bodegas Riojanas.

Currently, 85 percent of the 77 municipalities that make up the Rioja Alta Wine Route have less than 1,000 inhabitants. However, the number of wine tourists they receive has not stopped growing. In 2022, it was the second most visited route in Spain, with a total of 313,974 visitors. These figures are even more favourable if we add the figures harvested by the three Wine Routes operating in the Rioja Designation of Origin: together they reach 549,737 visitors and crown our region for the first time as the main wine tourism destination in the country*.

In view of these figures, wine tourism on the Rioja Alta Wine Route is one of the key elements in creating employment, preserving heritage, maintaining the population and fighting against depopulation. In short, it is a driving force for the sustainability, promotion and balance of the territory in all its facets: economic, social, environmental, heritage, cultural, etc.

For cross-cutting SUSTAINABILITY in capital letters. The Rioja Alta Wine Route invites you to enjoy the rich and varied range of activities and personalised experiences that wine tourism offers throughout the year, bringing you closer to the real life of a community, so you can learn about our wine culture.

Our aim is to promote the tourist destination and its associates, within the framework of the objectives of sustainable development and smart destination tourism. To this end, it belongs to the Club of Wine Routes of Spain (ACEVIN) as a certified route, taking as its own the criteria of its quality manual and those of the Secretary of State for Tourism. Likewise, we wish to generate memorable experiences for travellers seeking a new concept of tourism based on the culture of wine.

The Rioja Alta Wine Route is the perfect destination to disconnect, savour, enjoy and lose yourself in nature. A land where tourists will find a friendly and friendly service in a safe and peaceful environment, where they will discover temples of wine, centenary wineries, museums, routes of architectural interest, spaces for learning and fun, rural tourism, village festivals…

A destination for quality wine tourism. Close to you.

* Data extracted from the 15th Report on visitors to Wineries and Wine Museums. Spanish Wine Routes Tourism Observatory. https://wineroutesofspain.com