Bodegas Ramon Bilbao

A bit of a hike, but worth the trip.
Our third and final winery visit to Ramon Bilbao left us with a bit of a dilemma… how to get there. Without a rental car and with taxis practically nonexistent in Haro, the off-​the-​bodega-​beaten-​path Bilbao (approx 1.5 miles from the city center) is just far enough away to be a slight annoyance but still close enough to justify walking. And walk we did. Us gals are not the types to be deterred quickly, especially when wine is involved.
Luckily the jaunt wasn’t that bad and before we knew it we were being greeted by the expansive grounds of Bilbao with what appears to be miles and miles of grapes leading up to a stately — and very Spanish looking — bodega. Beautiful!
Once inside we were greeted by a lovely woman who took care of us promptly and wasn’t at all bothered by the fact that we were no longer interested in our reserved full tour but rather just a tasting only — ahem, we’d just done two others and just wanted to get down to vino business STAT. Can ya blame us? And she set off setting up the tasting room with 3 progressive red tastings (nice!) of their Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva as well as a phenomenal selection of charcuterie, cheeses and bread to accompany the wines. The most generous of all wineries by far!
The wines were truly fantastic (the 2006 Ramon Bilbao Reserva Rioja was my favorite) and we all continuously exclaimed how much we loved them. Could that have been influenced by the wine already in our belly? Sure. The only thing better than some wine is more wine, but overall the experience was so friendly and thoughtful I don’t see how anyone wouldn’t love it at Ramon Bilbao.
To be noted: while we had the tasting room to ourselves, it was the smallest of all tasting rooms we visited, I imagine during peak seasons it’s quite busy and crowded here. The cost of our tasting was € 10.00 each, also the most expensive. However, considering we received far more wine, plentiful snacks, complimentary shots of the Bilbao house made liqueur (shhh…) and the offer to taste ANYTHING on the shelves we saw that was of interest, I’d say the upcharge was incredibly valuable. Highly recommend.