In 2007, the wineries located near the Haro train station created the Association for the Touristic Development of the Train Station District, today called the Train Station District Association. The association’s objective is to organize collective wine tourism activities to highlight the history of this unique place and the wineries located here.
These activities have been recognized with two Best Of Wine Tourism awards from the Great Wine Capitals Global Network: the first in 2015 for Innovative Wine Tourism Experiences and in 2024 for Architecture and Landscapes.
1864: a train line connecting Catalonia to Bilbao facilitates transportation of goods to Atlantic ports, including wine
Until the arrival of the train line, goods had to be shipped in carts overland on unpaved roads. This journey from towns in northern Spain to the port of Bilbao took days and even weeks. Goods shipped by rail was faster and more efficient.
This train line passes close to Haro in Rioja Alta, near thousands of acres of vineyards. Beginning in the 1870s, wineries were built near the tracks to take advantage of fast shipment to Bilbao and abroad.
Four of the six Train Station District member wineries are more than a century old:
- Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España (CVNE) founded in 1879
- Gómez Cruzado in 1886
- La Rioja Alta in 1890
- Bodegas Bilbaínas-Viña Pomal in 1901.
The other two members, Muga, founded in 1932, moved its cellars to the Train Station District in 1970 and Bodegas Roda in 1987.
The Barrio de la Estación began to take shape in the second half of the 19th century. Photo: Canva.
Collective tasting experiences and visits have evolved over the years
The first collective experience in 2015, the Haro Station District Tasting, attracted over 3,500 wine lovers. It was divided into two parts: a tasting for wine professionals from Spain and abroad and a consumer experience where the wineries opened their doors to highlight their architecture, winemaking techniques and brands. Local Michelin-starred restaurants offered a tapa at each winery. Live music enhanced the festive atmosphere.
The 2015 experience was a spectacular success, leading the association to organize subsequent tastings in 2016, 2018, 2022 and 2024.
The format is the same at each experience: a tasting for wine professionals and wine lovers. Each professional tasting experience is led by an internationally recognized wine writer, called ‘the engineer’, an allusion to the nearby train line. Past ‘engineers’ have been Tim Atkin MW (2015) and Sarah Jane Evans MW (2018) from the U.K; Spaniard Pedro Ballesteros MW (2016), and Josep Roca, the sommelier from the 3-Michelin-starred El Celler de Can Roca in Girona (2022).
Subsequent professional Tasting Experiences have featured wineries from Bordeaux and Piemonte (Barolo and Barbaresco) in addition to the six wineries from the Train Station district.
The second part of each event is aimed at consumers who walk around the area, visiting each association winery where they can sample a glass of wine and a tapa, hang out outside the winery and listen to live music.
The 2024 professional tasting, will be held on June 14, and led by Luis Gutiérrez, a wine writer who covers Spain, Chile, Argentina, Portugal and the Jura (France) for The Wine Advocate. The following day, the six wineries open their doors to consumers.
Calado (underground bodega). Photo: Bodegas Roda.
The Train Station District expands its activities
The association has added three events to complement the once-yearly Train Station District tasting: a passport that gives the holder access to a premium wine and a tapa at the wine bars of the association member wineries, a special event “Christmas in the Train Station District” and tours held on Fridays to three association member wineries on a rotating basis that include a guided tour of the train station district, and a tasting of one premium wine plus a tapa at each winery.
Find out about the Train Station district, association member wineries and activities here.
Text by Tom Perry, Inside Rioja
Featured photo: Barrio de la Estación de Haro.
Learn more about Bilbao-Rioja Great Wine Capitals