Wine Touring in Alfaro

The capital of the Rioja Oriental (Eastern Rioja), Alfaro, the city of the white storks, sits south of the Sotos del Ebro nature reserve. The rooftop of its 17th-century Baroque masterpiece, the Colegiata de San Miguel Arcángel in the Plaza de España, is covered with some 400 stork nests, the largest urban collection of stork nests in the world. As you walk through the town, you’ll find churches and palaces with centuries of history. Friday is market day in the village. The Festival of San Rouque in August fills the town with music, parades of giants and big-heads, bullfights and gastronomic events. The Plaza de toros de Alfaro, which seats up to 5800, was built between 1924 and 1925 by a company from Bilbao. Owned by the city, it was renovated between late 2019 and early 2020. 

The nearby Eras de San Martín archaeological site (179 BC), the Roman city of Graccurris, sits on a hill to the north of the city, and there are indications that the area had been continuously populated since the 8th or 9th century BC, before the arrival of Tiberius Sempronio Gracco. The Rioja’s “Jurassic Park”, the Paleontological Interpretation Center of La Rioja, lies a thirty-minute drive southwest, in the village of Igea, about 87 km from Logroño.

Alfaro is also the home of Tonelería Magreñán, the prestigious Spanish cooperage with a tradition of barrel making dating to 1820 when Rafael Magreñán establish his own cooperage, with barrels crafted from American, French and European stave oak. The company is now managed by the fifth generation; Antonio and Teresa.

Dining in Alfaro

Lunch time in Alfaro provides you with the opportunity to enjoy the local regional cuisine. Asador San Roque ‘El Chorrilla’, offers an excellent 36,30€ menu, and was one of the first places we dined in Alfaro. Graccurris is another good option in the city. 

Dining outside Alfaro

You will find more dining options outside of the city. La Taberna de la Cuarta Esquina, is in the old quarter of Calahorra. Chef Luis Salcedo’s Remigio, with 1 Repsol sun, is located in the center of Tudela. Chefs Marisol Pastor and Ricardo Gill’s Treintaitrés, and Elena Pérez’s Trinquet Basque Restaurant are both highly rated with 1 Repsol sun and recommended in the Michelin Guide. Restaurante Alcazaba is in the Hotel AC Ciudad de Tudela. Pichorradicas – Casa Aitor is another excellent option. Enriqueta by L&ele, a mix of Andalusia and Navarra cuisine, is in the Hotel Santa Ana in Tudela. Chef José Aguado’s Restaurante Topero in the Plaza de los Fueros is also another good option if you’re really hungry. Cookarte Tudela offers a gastronomic menú del día for 18,50€ every day of the week. Casa Lola, with a Repsol Solete, offers a 45€ degustation menu and a 23€ menú del día. Chef Luis Salcedo’s El Choko de Remigio is a gastronomic adventure with one Repsol sun awarded in 2025. They offer a menú del día during the week. Restaurante Iruña, next to the Plaza de los Fueros and the Cathedral, is the oldest restaurant in Tudela and offers both a daily and weekend menu, as well as a seasonal vegetable menu. Closed on Mondays and Sunday nights.

Chef Enrique Martínez’s Restaurante Maher lies 15 minutes to the south in Cintruénigo (Navarra). The restaurant at Pago de Cirsus Bodega offers you a spectacular view across the vineyards, as well as a gourmet dining experience and is now overseen by chef Pedro Larumbe. It’s a 30-minute drive southeast of Tudela.

Although it is the capital of the Rioja Oriental, there are not many options for staying in Alfaro itself. We like Aire de Bardenas, which is about a 30-minute drive away outside of Tudela (Navarra), the AC Ciudad de Tudela and Hotel Remigio, both of which are in Tudela, are about a 20-minute drive. And of course, the 12-room Pago de Cirsus Bodega, in the middle of the vineyard, is about a 30-minute drive from Alfaro.

Alfaro is a stop on Stage 19.2: Rincón de Soto – Castejón de Ebro, 26,7 km, of the Western Ebro GR-99 Nature Trail.

Wineries of interest

Bodegas Ilurce 

Before lunch one day, schedule a visit to this 4th-generation Escudero family owned winery on the LR-385, the road to Grávalos. Founded in 1940, the family’s modern winery was opened in 2010 and has been working with the noted Jorge Ordoñez Group for several years. Ana Escudero Carra is the winemaker.

90-minute visits to the winery, with the possibility of visiting part of the 60 hectares of centenary vineyards, including those in the Yerga mountains, are available in Spanish, English, French and German. Call (+34) 941 180 829, email info@ilurce.com, or or you can message them at Whatsapp: (+34) 647 922 270 to arrange a visit.

Finca Egomei

The family owned 125-hectare estate of Hermanos Torres-Librada (Finca Estarijo), located on the Alfaro-Corella highway a few minutes south of Alfaro, was purchased in 2007 by Arturo Beltrán Picapeo, owner of the ‘Vista Alegre‘ arena in Madrid and Grupo Bodegas A&B (Navarra), and is now a small modern, avant-garde winery producing only two red wines, both Crianzas.

Email info@egomei.es, or call (+34) 902 108 101, to arrange a visit to this prestigious, boutique winery.  Open Monday-Friday and Saturday mornings.

Bodegas de Familia Burgo Viejo

With over 200 hectares of vineyards and a hundred years of tradition behind them, the winery was founded in 1987 by six families after producing wine in bulk as a cooperative since 1950s. The vineyards, with some Garnacha, are over 90 years old, spread throughout the area in the foothills of Yerga Mountain. Winemaker Gorka Etxebarria oversees the modern winery, which opened in 2004, to accommodate the increased production and the export market. The winery is located in Alfaro at Calle Concordia, 8, just down the street from the asador San Roque and about a 15-minute walk from Plaza Esperanza. 

You can call Gorka at (+34) 941 183 405, or bodegas@burgoviejo.com to arrange a visit to the winery.

Bodegas J Palacios Remondo

The winery had always been among the leading producers of red wine in the Rioja Oriental, noted more for mass-produced wines rather than quality brands, but that was before Álvaro Palacios took over the winery and its jewel, the fabulous La Montesa vineyard, and popularized the change in the name to the Rioja Oriental.

Email info@palaciosremondo.com, or call (+34) 941 180 207 for additional information, or to request a visit to the winery.