Haro

Like a pearl on the banks of the river Ebro, Haro almost glistens with the dew that swells the grapes found in abundance in the fields surrounding the town.

The old town of Haro conserves many buildings that date back to the roots of its establishment. Narrow streets conserve a character that is generous by nature and exuberant in form.

In particular, the Iglesia de Santo Tomás, a church built in gothic style with an ornate plateresque portico, stands spiritual sentinel dominating the high ground.

In many of the bars and cafes scattered around the streets of Haro, themselves almost appearing to be coated with a tinge of vine green, the local wine, rich and deep, the colour of the earliest touches of dawn, is served in abundance and the accompanying conversation is about the clean virginity of the earth that imparts the nectar with a ruby blush and a blackcurrenty flavour that swells in the mouth and leaves a fleeting memory of gooseberries lingering on the palate.

All this because Haro is located in the centre of the some of the most productive wine producing country in Spain.

This is the Rioja Alta, or High Rioja, a region of well drained clay rich soil and a microclimate, fortuitously yet lovingly created by be sheltering mountains that gently caresses the vines and provides their fruit time to imbibe all the nutrients necessary to produce one of the world’s most flavoursome wines.

In Haro this accident of nature, enhanced by the natural skill of local wine producers, is celebrated in style. The celebration reaches perhaps its most extreme on 29th June each year when, in a fiesta where (one has to assume) the year’s earliest wines are splashed around in a wine throwing orgy, the locals residents of Haro celebrate their magnificent good fortune.

More information:

www.haro.org Website of the local ayuntamiento. In English and Spanish this site provides information about history, geography and location of the town and provides further details about the principal local produce.

Food for Thought:

The cuisine on offer in Haro, and in La Rioja in general, uses the freshest of ingredients grown in the fertile lands around the towns and villages. Of note are peppers with garlic, roast black pudding and chorizo, mixed vegetables, broad beans, potatoes with chorizo, beans with quail, roast lamb chops garnished with vine leaves and beef with peppers and onions.

For those with a sweet tooth, the peach and pears soaked in wine is particularly appreciated while homemade food such as custards and rice pudding are found all over La Rioja. In Carnval week the typical food is torrijas, while in Holy Week lots of mulled wine is consumed. Snails, fish and beef with peppers are typical seasonal dishes in June.