On September 17, 2016, the Haro Station District will be home to the second edition of La Cata del Barrio de la Estación (Haro Station District Wine-Tasting Festival). For the second year running, one of the world’s most outstanding wine tourism destinations will hold a wine festival, unique in Spain, organized by seven of the most emblematic wineries in the world of wine, and all concentrated in the same district, the birthplace of Rioja wine. These are López de Heredia Viña Tondonia, CVNE, Bodegas Gómez Cruzado, La Rioja Alta S.A., Bodegas Bilbaínas, Bodegas Muga and Bodegas RODA.
The great difference between this iconic district and other world-class wine tourism destinations is that Haro Station District houses the highest concentration of centenarian wineries in the world, all huddled around Haro Railway Station in stone and wooden buildings built in the 19th Century.
Saturday 17th of September is the only day in the year when the district is closed to traffic so people can stroll peacefully around the area, visit the seven wonderful wineries on the same day and taste their famous wines accompanied by the best of Riojan gastronomy surrounded by wine-related activities, live music and Haro’s distinctive architecture. So all wine and food lovers can enjoy this interesting experience, travel packages from Spain’s major cities will be on sale so, as well as taking part in the extraordinary event, visitors can discover the wonderful wine growing landscape that surrounds Haro. This initiative has been promoted by the Asociación para el Desarrollo Turístico del Barrio de la Estación (ADT), a group comprising the seven wineries of the Haro Station District that was founded to promote the development of tourism in the region by means of joint actions to consolidate the prestigious area as one of the world’s leading wine tourism destinations.
Haro Station District was born in the midst of the Industrial Revolution, around one of Spain’s first railway stations, with the aim of taking full advantage of 19th Century progress to help their wines reach more destinations. Currently, the district comprises López de Heredia Viña Tondonia, CVNE, Bodegas Gómez Cruzado, La Rioja Alta S.A., Bodegas Bilbaínas, Bodegas Muga and Bodegas RODA. All world-class benchmarks of the Qualified Designation of Origin Rioja, and all have made important investments to develop wine tourism. The wineries are open to visitors all year round and, in 2015, welcomed over 120,000 people.
