Vivanco Museum of Wine Culture

The Vivanco family have made wine in La Rioja since 1915, and in 2004 they opened a museum beside their winery in Briones built on a scale unusual for a private institution: five permanent galleries covering the history of wine from the Neolithic through Egypt, Greece and Rome to the present, viticulture and winemaking technique, presses and barrels, and art relating to wine including works by Picasso and Miro. One room holds over three thousand corkscrews, said to be the largest such collection anywhere. A vineyard of around two hundred varieties from across the world is planted outside. The winery itself can be toured separately with tastings. Briones is a hill village with a good view over the Ebro valley.

What you actually see

• The five galleries - eight thousand years of wine history and technique.
• The corkscrew collection - over three thousand examples in one room.
• The wine art - works by Picasso, Miro and others on the theme.
• The variety vineyard - around two hundred grape varieties planted outside.

When to go

April to June and September to November; harvest in September and October is when the winery is most interesting to tour. The museum closes on Mondays and keeps shorter winter hours.

Honest expectations

Museum and winery tours are ticketed separately and the combination is expensive. The museum is large and text-heavy, taking several hours to cover properly. Briones is small with limited eating.

Nearby

Haro's bodega quarter lies northwest; Laguardia and the Rioja Alavesa are north.