Bodega El Fabulista

Useful Information

Location:	San Juan Plaza, 1300 Laguardia (Álava). A-124 between Logroño and Miranda de Ebro. Parking outside town, 5 minutes walk to the center. (42.552794, -2.584554)
Open:	All year daily. Visitas Teatralizadas: All year Sat 17:30-19. [2024]
Fee:	Tour with two wines: Adults EUR 13.50. Tour with three wines: Adults EUR 16. Visitas Entusiastas with four wines: Adults EUR 27. Entusiastas Premium with five wines: Adults EUR 37. [2024]
Classification:	Keller
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours:	D=1 h, Max=45.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Bodega El Fabulista, Plaza San Juan, 1300 Laguardia (Álava), Tel: +34-945-62-11-92. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

Description

The Bodega El Fabulista is a winery with one of the largest and most spectacular cellars in the city. The small city has a long Rioja wine-growing tradition, and as a result it has more than 300 wine cellars, actually the town is almost completely undermined by wine cellars. This cellar is located and in the basement of the Villa de Laguardia, 7 m below ground. The palace is from the 17th century, and was the home of the fable writer Félix María de Samaniego, hence the name of the winery. He was known for fairy tales and poems, and is considered one of the greatest writers of history fables along with Aesop and La Fontaine. The labels of their wine bottles show motives from the stories of the Fabulista. The winery is located in the heart of the town of Laguardia, at the northern side of the Plaza San Juan beneath the church.

They offer three different guided tours into the cellar. The regular tours start with a visit to the palace and a brief explanation of the life of Samaniego. Then the basement of the palace is entered. There are actually four calados (cellars), one for making the wine, one for aging, and two for tasting. The winemaking process using the traditional carbonic maceration method is explained. The grapes are pressed at street level, then the juice is brought into the cellar. The tours include either tasting of two or three wines from the winery, and a snack with buns, homemade chorizo sausages and cheese.

The Visitas Teatralizadas (Theatrical Visits) is a sort or role play tour, the fable writer Félix María de Samaniego, in his historic clothes, appears during the tour and talks to the visitors. He tells them fables and also his lesser-known erotic stories from the 18th and early 19th century. Then his wife, Manuela de Salcedo, appears. Her husband was frequently travelling, and while he was absent she was receiving the guests of the winery. She was not only the inspiration and origin of Samaniego's erotic stories, she was also a brilliant woman of enlightenment who was very advanced for her time.

And the third type of tour is called the Visitas Entusiastas (Enthusiastic Visits). They are guided by an expert winemaker, enologist or sommelier, and allow the visitor to taste four or five different wines from Bodega El Fabulista, and a small apéritif. The Entusiastas Premium offers additionally two pintxos (snacks).