Tutored tasting, followed by lunch with dishes matched by Carousel Chefs to Ramón Bilbao wines

Rioja is Spain’s most famous wine region, and probably has the greatest concentration of old vines in the world; producers have long identified the best areas to produce their best wines – but does anyone actually know how diverse it is in terms of climate, soils, geology and altitude?

For 20 years, Rodolfo Bastida has been digging deep into the terroirs and vineyards of Rioja – from turning to the high altitudes of Abalos and Vilalba for his icon Mirto wine, to his first foray into single vineyards in the Rioja Baja and the purchase of a ‘dream parcel’ of vineyards in the Yerga mountains.

Along the way, he has formulated some firm thoughts about blending vs single vineyards, and what this means for the next generation of winemakers in Rioja.

His conclusion?  Come along on Wednesday 10^th July to find out.