Visit to Bodegas Muga

Muga is a family winery in Haro's Barrio de la Estación, at Avenida de Vizcaya, 2, which preserves traditional wood-based winemaking. Its visit is one of the most complete in the district for understanding the craft: the great oak vats where the wine ferments, the ageing rooms and its own cooperage, where the barrels are made, with its warmth and smell of wood. If you are only going to do one winery visit in Haro and you are interested in how the work is done, this is a good choice.

What you will see

The tour begins in the winemaking area, with the wooden vats, enormous oak tanks where the wine ferments. From there you move on to the ageing rooms, full of barrels, and to the cooperage, which is what sets this visit apart from others: the winery makes and repairs its own barrels, and you see the coopers at work. That way you understand how the winery looks after each ageing. The visit ends with a tasting of two wines of the house.

The visit: price, hours and rules

It lasts about 90 minutes and costs €30 per person. It is held in Spanish or English, depending on the session you choose; simultaneous translation is not allowed during the tour. Book on the winery's website, with a calendar where you choose the date and time: the website does not publish fixed hours, so check the sessions available for your day. The form asks for name, email, telephone, country and number of people.

The rules are clear: under-12s are not admitted, nor are pets, and you cannot enter once the visit has started, so arrive in good time. If you cancel with less than 48 hours' notice, the amount is not refunded. For any questions, the winery's telephone is 941 306 060.

Other experiences at Muga

Besides the basic visit, Muga offers a visit with a tasting course, a private "Premium Plus" visit, an electric-bike tour of the vineyard and a balloon flight at dawn over the Rioja Alta, which can be combined with the winery visit. The details and prices of each are on its website.

After the visit

Next door, Muga's terrace serves its wines by the glass with local appetisers, from 12:00 to 14:30, a good ending if you visit mid-morning. In the same district, a few steps away, are La Rioja Alta, S.A., CVNE and López de Heredia; two visits with tasting in a day is reasonable. From the district you cross the Ebro on foot and in about ten minutes you are at Plaza de la Paz and the Herradura, the pintxo area of the old town.