Every year on the morning of 29 June, the people of Haro climb a hill outside town and drench each other in red wine, and nobody has ever satisfactorily explained to me why this needs to happen at nine in the morning. The Batalla del Vino is the loudest expression of a town that lives and breathes wine. Haro is the heart of Rioja Alta, and just outside it the old stone bridge at Briñas crosses the Ebro, a medieval structure of solid arches that has carried travellers, mule trains and wine carts across the river for centuries.
The Ebro here is broad and green, flowing between poplars and vineyards, and the bridge leads into the small village of Briñas with its stone houses and manor fronts. A short way upstream the river pushes through the Conchas de Haro, a narrow gap in the rock that marks a natural gateway between the Basque lands of Álava and La Rioja. The route sheets for this ride pair it with places like the Suso monastery at San Millán de la Cogolla, where some of the earliest written words in Castilian were jotted in the margins of a Latin text.
The riding around Haro is a pleasure. Roads wind through vineyards and small villages, with gentle gradients and long views to the Sierra de Cantabria rising like a wall to the north. Cross into Álava toward Labastida and Laguardia and the road climbs along the foot of that range, with tighter curves and wonderful views back over the vines. Surfaces are mostly good, traffic light outside harvest time, when tractors and grape trailers rule the lanes.
Haro has everything you need, from fuel to a long list of bars where a glass of local crianza costs less than a coffee in many European cities. The Barrio de la Estación, by the railway, is home to a cluster of historic bodegas, many of which offer tours. In the old town, the tapas bars around the Plaza de la Paz and the streets nearby are lively in the evening.
Food is serious business: lamb chops grilled over vine cuttings, potatoes stewed with chorizo in the Rioja style, peppers, asparagus and white beans. Come in autumn when the vineyards turn red and gold, or in spring when the vines are budding. And ride carefully if you have been tasting; the local police know exactly what goes on in this valley.