Bilbao is a city that tells its own story, but it also serves as a fine prologue. An hour’s drive south, the landscape changes character: the estuary gives way to vineyards, iron to golden stone, and the Rioja Alavesa comes into view, a region where wine is not an industry but a way of understanding the land.

This is the day trip we most highly recommend from the hotel when guests have a whole day to spare. Here’s why.

A land that reveals itself through its vineyards

In the south of Álava, sheltered by the Sierra de Cantabria, the Rioja Alavesa has for centuries been writing some of the greatest chapters in the history of the Rioja wine region. Its vine-covered hills are home to stone villages where every house has its own character, and a human scale that the wine has managed to preserve.

What is remarkable is that tradition has not stood in the way of boldness. Here, century-old wineries coexist with architecture that has been celebrated around the world: the Marqués de Riscal winery, with Frank Gehry’s titanium waves, and the Ysios winery, whose roof, designed by Santiago Calatrava, undulates like the mountain range behind it. For anyone coming from Bilbao, the concept feels familiar: the same dialogue between heritage and the avant-garde, transferred from the museum to the vineyard.

Visiting a winery: an insider’s guide to wine

The best way to get to know the region is to visit a winery. They come in all sizes, and most offer a comprehensive experience: a stroll amongst the vines, an explanation of the winemaking process in the dimly lit barrel rooms, a guided wine tasting and a food pairing with local produce.

You don’t need to be understood. In fact, the best visits are those that turn a newcomer into a curious observer: you go in thinking about wine and come out thinking about time, the soil and the craft.

Laguardia: the town that keeps its wine beneath its feet

If this getaway has a capital, it is Laguardia. A walled medieval town, perched on a hilltop, whose secret lies underground: beneath its streets lies a network of cellars hewn out of the rock, the underground wine cellars where the region’s wine has fermented for centuries. That is why there are hardly any cars driving through it: the whole village literally rests on its history.

Strolling through its medieval streets at dusk, when the stone takes on a golden hue, is one of those moments that make the journey worthwhile in itself.

Cuisine from Álava: grilled meats, fresh produce and wine

Here, the food does not merely accompany the wine: it engages with it. The region’s cuisine is based on locally sourced produce, charcoal-grilled meats, seasonal vegetables and a traditional repertoire of dishes that needs no embellishment. Many winery restaurants build their menus around their own wines, and the food becomes the most comprehensive way to understand what you have seen during the morning.

An easy day trip from Bilbao

La Rioja Alavesa is an hour’s drive from Bilbao, which means you can visit it in a day without having to get up at the crack of dawn: set off mid-morning, visit a winery, have lunch in the area, take a stroll around Laguardia and head back as the day draws to a close.

A tip from someone who’s done this route many times: the road to Laguardia is already part of the plan. The final stretch, with the vineyards stretching towards the Sierra de Cantabria, gives a better indication of what’s to come than any guidebook.

And on our return, Bilbao awaits us with the table laid. There are few better ways to round off a day of wine-tasting than with dinner in the Casco Viejo, just a stone’s throw from our room.

Tayko Bilbao. The start of your story in the city.