-
858patriciak
La Rioja is a special place in Spain, with special wine, unique to the region. A wine that has a musty aroma and palate, you know it's Rioja by this particular sense. Almost all Rioja's have it, something to look forward to in Spanish wines. You taste the wine of Spain, and only Spain in Rioja.I was gifted a bottle of Ysios reserve 2002, and it was hailed in the US in its tasting rooms, however, having lived in Spain for a decade, well, it's not really a Rioja.. Fruit forward, full bodied, but simply average, I would not have priced this wine at $30 but more like a $10 wine. Kind of harsh, none of that classic Rioja palate, but put forth for the American taste and feel of every wine from California. No special quality. Nothing to say about it, just mediocre. This pains me, because 'Terrior' is so important, and the taste of Rioja so important. If they are making wines to adhere to the American palate, ( the biggest wine consumers on the planet) than everything is going to taste the same. I decanted this wine and hoped it would get better, but it didnt. U.S. Tasting rooms hailed this wine, bringing it to $30 a bottle. I dont see it. I love the musty taste and aroma of Classic Spanish Rioja. I think Spanish wine makers should adhere to their history, and not try to change to meet the masses. Old world Rioja is simply Art, we appreciate it, we love it, please Do Not Change it. Some of us Do know what is a Rioja, amd we cherish it.
-
IrishAustralianSusan
This vineyard was well worth the visit, the tour was very professional. A bit pricey at $12 each but it's redeemable off purchases and we made 3! Stunning building makes for great photos and it's so close to Laguardia for a stroll after.
-
WimHilven
We didn't make any appointment, we thought that we should be able to go inside the bodega, look around and buy some wine. We found the place was locked. We pressed the bell at the main entrance a number of times, but there was no response. A number of other visitors also showed up but they had a similar experience as we did. What was very irritating was that we could see visitors on the second floor of the bodega sipping wine. After about thirty minutes of waiting (and walking around the premises on the outside) we gave up and left the place.We were at various other wineries in Rioja but this was our worst experience. You would tend to think that wineries would be very conscious about their image and keen in marketing their products. Equally important, you would at least expect them to keep their sales or reception room open.Nonetheless. The building is quite impressive from the outside. Too bad we could'nt see the inside...
-
Antonio_rider
I should say, that I'm not a wine enthusiast, primary goal for me was to see that very unusual building. And it is really worth a visit, very impressive creation in front of mountains. Now, they rebuilding the roof, so there is a green net all way around roof perimeter and no water in the pool around.The tour, however, was very interesing. Our guide, Sylvia, provided a lot of information, and as we have been here in time of the harvest, we was lucky to see some steps of wine-making in action. And really nice thing - to sit on the 2nd floor with glass of wine, in front of impressive view. One more thing I'd like to add, if you expect to find old wine cellars and etc here-you will not see any - it is modern high-tech gravity flow winery. Enjoy your visit!
-
gadflyparexcellence
We happened to show up at Bodegas Ysios after a long walk around the lake in Laguardia. While we didn't make any appointment, we thought that we should be able to go inside the bodega, look around and buy some wine. We found the place was locked. We pressed the bell at the main entrance a number of times, but there was no response. A number of other visitors also showed up but they had a similar experience as we did. What was very irritating was that we could see visitors on the second floor of the bodega sipping wine and having a great time. A couple of them even showed up near the window and stared at us perhaps wondering what we were doing outside. After about twenty minutes of waiting we gave up and left the place.We were at various other wineries in Rioja but this was our worst experience. You would tend to think that wineries would be very conscious about their image and keen in marketing their products. Equally important, you would at least expect them to keep their sales or reception room open.What we found particularly galling was that although staff at the bodega heard and saw us nobody bothered to come to the main entrance. Someone could have showed the courtesy of coming to the entrance and tell us in person that they were running a tour and that their shop was also closed.Whatever way you look at it, the whole experience reeked of bad vibes. Obviously Ysios is not concerned about bad PR!
-
329cw
We didn't go in the bodegas itself but if you are touring the area and visiting Laguardia, this is a 'must see' building - modern architecture at its best!
-
MinaKarina
The architecture of this wine cellar is really impressive and unusual, located near Laguardia, a beautiful medieval town ! The guide was really sympathetic and the wine tasting at the end of the visit was very enjoyable , excellent wine (a bit pricey though!) and charcuterie to got with it. Strongly recommended !
-
Marien93
Walking to Ysios is already an experience; seeing the mountains and the vineyardsalready enters you into the atmosphere of La rioja's. Ysios' has a beautiful modern design and I recommend to visit this attraction
-
Moriaux_Family
We made a reservation to visit the Ysios bodegas. Although the reservation had been confirmed by e-mail, they had not scheduled a tour at the time slot they had confirmed. Finally, someone was so kind to still do the tour. Explanations about the wine making and the tasting were very professional - better than similar tours we've done in other bodegas, with a very good understanding of their products and overall wine market. The building itself is gorgious, although because of water damage, some maintenance work was being undertaken to fix the roof, which meant that the beauty of the building was a bit distorted by the safety nets on top of the roof. The wines were quite balanced, yet we felt that they were a bit overpriced (the reserva bottle price recently increased from 18€ to 25€, the limitada is at 60€). The tour costs 12€ pp which you get back as a discount on the wine you buy. Overall, based on the excellent guide and the nice architecture, we would recommend the tour
-
malvern09
The first sight of this winery is stunning - amazing Calatrava building with the mountain backdrop. The tour (which is supposed to be booked ahead - but they kindly squeezed us in at the last minute) covers both the amazing building and all the stages in the wine making. There was nothing obvious going on while we were there (maybe they don't run tours during harvest?) - but it meant the guide was able to show us all areas. Nice tasting to finish off (though I have to admit we saved our purchases for other bodegas!)
