Spain/La Rioja: Bodegas Lecea

The other bodegas we visited was the Bodegas Lecea, dramatically different and unique – this one dating back to the 16th century and one of the oldest in Rioja. It’s located right underneath the historic town of Asensio. it’s the only winery in the area still operating four interconnected underground cellars, carved into rock over 500 years ago! These cellars, with a constant 13C temperature, are used to produce and age wines using traditional methods, like grape stomping and hand-pressing. During the tour you go on a real underground quest of exploring the caves and seeing the aging barrels and bottles – almost 500m of labyrinth! And a really generous tasting at the end of the tour – we tried 7 wines.