La Rioja's winemaking charter dates to 1102, when monks at San Millán de la Cogolla documented vine cultivation along the Ebro basin. The Denominación de Origen Rioja, established in 1925, became Spain's first quality-controlled wine region and remains its most internationally recognized. Today the appellation spans 65,000 hectares across three subzones — Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa, and Rioja Oriental — each imparting distinct mineral signatures to the tempranillo grape that anchors 75 percent of regional production. A rioja wine tasting tour threads through terrain shaped by alpine runoff and limestone bedrock. Haro's Barrio de la Estación clusters century-old bodegas within a single square kilometer, their French-barrel aging cellars stacked three levels below street grade. Marqués de Riscal's titanium-clad bodega in Elciego, designed by Frank Gehry in 2006, reframes wine architecture as sculptural intervention. Laguardia's medieval walls enclose subterranean calaos — hand-carved limestone caves used for fermentation since the 16th century — accessible only by guided descent. Harvest runs late August through October, when mechanical pickers work the valley floor while hand-selection teams scale the Alavesa hillsides for low-yield, high-concentration fruit. The region's crianza, reserva, and gran reserva classifications denote minimum oak and bottle aging: 24, 36, and 60 months respectively. White Rioja, historically oxidized in American oak, has shifted toward stainless steel and French barrel fermentation since the 1990s, yielding mineral-driven expressions from viura and malvasía grapes. Tasting protocols follow the copita glass standard — tulip-shaped to concentrate aromatics — and proceed from youngest to oldest vintage. Rioja wine tasting tour itineraries from Bilbao, San Sebastián, and Pamplona range from single-bodega deep dives to multi-estate comparative circuits. Transportation typically departs by 09:00, allowing for morning cellar tours before midday tastings. The Rioja Alta plateau averages 12°C cooler than valley floors, making layered clothing essential even in summer. Reservations are required at family-run estates and marquee bodegas alike, as walk-in capacity remains limited outside harvest season.