Located in Entrena, just 13 kilometres south of Logroño, Finca Los Arandinos is a winery with an in-house restaurant, hotel and spa. In 2005 quantity surveyor Roberto Guillén decided to continue the winegrowing tradition of his wife’s family and embarked on this ambitious project. Opened in 2011, the hotel was designed by Rioja architect Javier Arizcuren, who is also a winegrower in Quel (Rioja Baja). The interior design of 10 of the 14 rooms, some of them with a very peculiar ‘bath deconstruction’, bears the signature of Spanish artist and fashion designer David Delfín.
The winery and the hotel interact continuously —there's one dining room overlooking the fermentation tanks whereas the suite rooms are located above the barrel hall. The building crowns a hill with impressive views of the Moncalvillo mountains, so the surrounding landscape and vineyards are always visible through enormous windows —a distinctive hallmark in Finca de los Arandinos.
In this area of the Iregua valley, a tributary of the river Ebro, vegetable gardens have always coexisted with vines, with the bodega district of Entrena proving the long-standing winemaking tradition.
Finca de los Arandinos sources its grapes exclusively from its own vines. They own 22 hectares aged between 4 and 60 and planted at 500-600m high, most of them with a northern exposure. Total production reaches some 125,000 bottles, most of which are exported. In Spain the wines can be found in Lavinia (Madrid) and in the northern regions of Galicia and Asturias.
The range starts with Viero (12,000 bottles, €9) a good value white Viura fermented and aged in oak vats. Malacapa (45,000 bottles, €6) is a better buy: a blend of Tempranillo with just a hint of Mazuelo aged 4-6 months in French oak, this is a quaffable, vibrant, fruit-driven red showcasing the local terroir. The Reserva, with marked cedar notes, and the spicy Crianza (45,000, €9) are more classical in style while El Conjuro (€16, 6,000 bottles), which includes 10-20% Garnacha in the blend, is lovely textured, powerful and rich, although the alcohol shows a bit.
All the wines have been named after local sites (Malacapa or Prado de los Arandinos where the hotel stands) or particular spots such as Viero, an ancient Roman village nestled between the villages of Navarrete, Entrena and Medrano, and Conjuro which bears the name of the bodega district in Entrena.
The wine tourism offer at Finca de los Arandinos is outstanding. Apart from offering numerous experiences in their own facilities, guests can ride horses among vineyards, take a tour of calle Laurel, Logroño’s most famous tapas district, or visit San Sebastián in the Basque Country. The bright, pleasant restaurant offers affordable menus including its tasting menu (€55). Unfortunately, the wine list is limited to their own white and reds.
