La Rioja and Rioja Alavesa Vine and Wine Cultural Landscape

Photo by Walter.

La Rioja and Rioja Alavesa Vine and Wine Cultural Landscape is part of the Tentative list of Spain in order to qualify for inclusion in the World Heritage List. It is a proposed extension of WHS.

La Rioja and Rioja Alavesa is a wine region with DOCa appellation (Qualified Designation of Origin) that covers an area of 60,000 hectares along the upper course of the Ebro River in northern Spain. Viticulture in La Rioja can be traced back to the Phoenician and Roman eras and has been documented continuously since the Middle Ages. The proposed property includes various types of wineries, from the traditional calados (cellars excavated in the rock) to examples of contemporary architecture by Frank Gerhy, Santiago Calatrava, or Zaha Hadid.

Map of La Rioja and Rioja Alavesa Vine and Wine Cultural Landscape

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The coordinates shown for all tentative sites were produced as a community effort. They are not official and may change on inscription.

Community Reviews

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Clyde

Malta - 17-Apr-20 -

La Rioja and Rioja Alavesa Vine and Wine Cultural Landscape (T) by Clyde

I visited La Rioja Wine Cultural Landscape on foot while walking the Camino Frances to Santiago de Compostela in April/May 2016. From the very first stop at one of the many hostales till you get to Santiago de Compostela, local cheap wine will be a flowing companion to help you bear the blister pain and help you ignore the loud snoring of some fellow pilgrims. There even is a ''public'' wine fountain offered by Bodega Irache in Navarra before making your way to the La Rioja region. 

The best bottled wine we were given almost for free during our pilgrimage was at La Rioja. La Rioja also offered the most scenic vineyard landscape too in the Ebro and Oja rivers and valleys and the Iberian system snow-capped mountains in the background. There are several religious monuments worth mentioning and visiting while in the region such as the Santa María de la Redonda Cocathedral in Logroño, the Calahorra Cathedral and the Monastery of Santa María la Real of Najera, apart from the already inscribed monasteries of San Millán de Yuso y Suso. There are also dinosaur footprints (therapods) near Enciso.

However, the modern agricultural buildings and especially the large power station at Arrúbal are a big eyesore. Moreover, in my opinion, this vineyard landscape is certainly not unique (not even in Spain) and lacks the rolling hills and uninterrupted vineyards present in already inscribed vineyard landscapes on the WH list. So unfortunately (or some might say fortunately), I feel this tentative WHS lacks any OUV.  


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