Laguardia stands on a ridge above the Ebro valley, a walled hill town with the long blue wall of the Sierra de Cantabria rising behind it like a stage backdrop. It is the main town of the Rioja Alavesa, the part of the Basque Country that lies south of the mountains and produces some of Spain's best-known wine, and it has about fifteen hundred permanent residents, most of whom seem to have a cellar.
That is not a joke. Beneath the old streets runs a network of medieval tunnels and caves, dug to store and age wine, and many of the houses have their own cellar below. The town was founded in 1164 by King Sancho VI of Navarre, known as the Wise, as a frontier fortress against Castile, and its name means roughly the guard. Inside the walls the layout is a tight spine of cobbled lanes, with several gates and a few towers.
The church of Santa María de los Reyes has a remarkable Gothic doorway that was painted in bright colours and survived in unusually fine condition because it was sheltered by a porch. It is worth a look if it is open. A few kilometres away the wine world gets interesting in a different way: at Elciego, the Marqués de Riscal winery has a hotel designed by Frank Gehry, in titanium ribbons of pink and gold, and the Ysios winery near Laguardia, by Santiago Calatrava, has a long wave-shaped roof against the mountain.
The riding is gentle and scenic: smooth roads running through vineyards, which turn deep gold and red in October and look bare and sculptural in winter. There is little traffic outside harvest, when tractors with grape trailers slow everyone down. Winds can be strong on the open ridge, and the temperature swings between hot afternoons and cool evenings.
The old town is largely pedestrian, so park outside the walls and walk up. There are bars and restaurants in plenty, and a glass of local red with roast lamb or grilled vegetables is the obvious choice. For serious fuel, plan on Logroño, about fifteen kilometres away, though smaller stations may be found closer.