Spanish wineries and cutting-edge architecture

With a few notable exceptions, wine tourism has not been a part of the marketing mix for Spanish bodegas until quite recently, but this is defintely changing. Wineries in Spain's premier winemaking region, La Rioja, have been hiring internationally renowned architects to bring some new dazzle to the region.

The most attention-grabbing project in terms of international press coverage, has been the Marques de Riscal winery designed by Frank Gehry. The facility opened last month and features a hotel (prices range from 350 to 1,350 euros and some rooms are already booked up to 2010), a restaurant and spa using grape-based treatments. The project took 8 years to complete and required a 70 million euro investment. The result is pure Gehry: sheets of metal that over the building that seem to waving in the breeze.

For the Lopez de Heredia winery in Haro, the Pritzker-prize winner architect Zaha Hadid has created a stunning bottle-shaped entry to the winery, which houses a part of the winery built in 1910.

Santiago Calatrava, one of Spain's premier architects, has designed the facility for Ysios, which features a very broad, undulating roof, that from a distance seems pixelated.

Bodegas Baigorri commissioned architect Iñaki Aspiazu to build their winery, the main part of which is underground. The only part above ground is the entry, which is a 400 square meter glass cube that offers 360 degree views of the estate.

Amazingly all of the above wineries are located in relative close proximity to each other, within 25 kilometers, in two of the three Rioja regions: Alavesa and Rioja Alta. For more tourism info: www.lariojaturismo.com and www.rutadelvinoderiojaalavesa.com.