Dinastía Vivanco Bodegas Museo del Vinois not just a great Museum, it is a beautiful one as well, set in the heart of the wine area of Alberite in La Rioja, Spain.  What also places this Museum in a category of its own is its geographical position with glorious views over the surrounding countryside.

The Museum is located right next to the Vivanco winery from which it takes its name, in the town of Briones, La Rioja, and was built to “give back to wine what wine has given to us” in the words of its founder Pedro Vivanco Paracuellos. It was Senor Vivanco’s passion for collecting everything to do with wine that led him to open this magnificent museum, created to showcase every aspect of his collection.

With audiovisual and interactive displays and a specific route for physically or visually impaired visitors, this museum ticks all the right boxes. The collection is divided into 5 main spaces and takes the visitor from the process of vine cultivation through its development from 8000 years ago right up to the present day, the history of which shows how the vine is central to our culture. Dinastía Vivanco Museo del Vino is set to become the world’s greatest museum of viniculture

What to See in the Wine Museum at La Rioja

Starting with an introductory video about the family Vivanco, visitors then move through the rest of the museum. An easy to follow plan guides one around but various sections can be skipped if time is short, or if the particular theme is not of interest. During the tour one learns that wine is closely related to human patterns of settlement and that it was found in both pagan and religious ceremonies from the earliest days.

Egyptians, Romans and Greeks are all well represented in the displays, and some beautiful mosaics and drinking vessels are on show along with the front panel of a 3rd century sarcophagus and some small oil paintings on copper. Many artistic works show how grapevines and wine have been used throughout the ages to depict figures in classical mythology. With ancient presses and ploughs, etchings and early pictures to illustrate the harvests, and photographs of more recent times, the life of the labourers in the vineyards is brought to life.

Barrels and Bottles and Transportation of Wine

Transportation of wine was always of major importance and barrel making and acquiring the correct oak wood for the barrels occupies a goodly section of the museum. There are only 3 types of oak used to make barrels today, Sessile Oak which adds a vanilla flavour to the wine, English, French and Russian Oak (not much used) which is very tannic, and American White Oak which adds chocolate aromas. Oak grows very slowly and cannot be cut before it is 120 years old.

As well as the barrels there is a whole area devoted to bottles and the corks used in them. The use of cork is always recommended for fine wines as its flexibility means that it swells up on contact with the wine and fits tightly into the bottle. The foil on the cork and top of the bottle protects it from exterior airs.

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Following on from that there is a display of nearly 3,000 corkscrews that charts the evolution of this simple instrument, dating from the first patented model in the 18th century. Wine has given work to many people in many trades over many centuries.

It would be a shame to leave this delightful museum without spending time in the Essence area, a spot where different aromas can be experienced, from jasmine to leather, chocolate to chillies. It is revelatory.

Restaurant, Bar and Wine Tasting Area

Outside the displays can be found the tasting bar where one can spend a happy half-hour or so, sampling the delightful wines of the area.   The bar sells a fine collection of local and imported wines, and the excellent onsite restaurant offers superb, local dishes, cooked and served in the local fashion and with carefully chosen wines to accompany them.