Briones sits on a hill above the Ebro, a village of fewer than nine hundred people with a ring of old walls, a big baroque church and more wine in its cellars than anyone could drink in a lifetime. It belongs to La Rioja Alta, the western and highest part of the Rioja wine region, where the river turns the landscape green and the vines run in long lines up toward the grey limestone wall of the Sierra de Cantabria. The silhouette of the village, with its church tower at the top, rises over the vineyards like a ship's prow.
The streets are steep and stone-paved, lined with old houses with coats of arms carved above the doors. The church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción is the main monument, with a heavy, ornate tower, and its Gothic and Renaissance interior holds a large carved altarpiece. The village was once a fortified border post between Navarre and Castile, and its position on the edge of the Ebro valley made it strategic. The region's wine tradition goes back much further, to the Romans and the medieval monasteries, and underneath the village, networks of cellars cut into the rock store barrels of wine at a steady cool temperature.
A short distance outside Briones stands one of the largest museums of wine in Europe, run by a local winery, with collections of corkscrews, vessels, paintings and sculptures from many centuries. It is a surprising and well-made place, and a decent excuse to stay out of the weather. Wine tasting is, of course, the main activity, and the village has several wine shops and small bodegas where you can try the local Tempranillo, aged in oak. Be careful with the schedule, because a long tasting is not a good lead-in to a ride.
The roads around Briones are easy and relaxing. They run through a landscape of vineyards, olive trees and cereal fields, with low hills and river views, and the corners are gentle. The surface is generally good, and the traffic is light outside the harvest, when tractors and grape trailers take over in September and October. For more of a ride, head south toward the Sierra de Cantabria or along the river to Haro, a larger wine town, where the station district is lined with historic cellars.
Briones itself has a few restaurants and bars but no major services, so use Haro, about six kilometres away, for fuel and supermarkets. In the village, a plate of roast lamb cooked in a wood oven, with a glass of the local red, is the classic order. Autumn is the season, with red vine leaves and golden light.