Blame it on Rioja

Saturday, September 8, 9:48am

Outside my window at Hotel Los Agustinos in Haro, Rioja’s unofficial wine capital, the sounds of a live marching band are coming closer with each passing moment, and I am wondering if they are headed straight into Habitación 229, where I sit typing. Every thirty seconds or so, my body jumps a little from the mid-range boom of a solitary firework, which is obviously very close but hidden from view.

Saturday, September 8, 10:05am

Suddenly everything’s quiet again, except for the whooshing sound of a maid’s vacuum two floors below. I walk over to my night stand, where I placed the little pamphlet just before retiring last night. The cover reads “Haro. Del 7 al 11 de septiembre de 2007: Fiestas en Honor a Ntra. Sra. la Virgen de la Vega.” A quick glance at Saturday’s activities and it all makes sense: A solemn Mass at the Basílica de la Vega just down the street at 10am, preceded by “Alegres Dianas por la Banda Municipal de Música.”

Welcome to Haro, La Rioja, Spain, a lovely little town in the throes of Virgen de la Vega fever. I know I should look up the Patrona of Haro, found out her origins, where she might have appeared or which miracles are attributed to her, try to appear cultured, but my research card is full. It’s finally here, and it’s about to kick into full throttle: CIA Rioja 2007.

A big part of my job this year as a freelance consultant to, and spokesperson for, the U.S. Vibrant Rioja campaign–and a huge chunk of my “free time” away from Chanterelle since May–has been to prepare for this moment, and the real fun’s about to begin. Two groups are set to arrive in Rioja this weekend, one, a production crew from the Culinary Institute of America’s Greystone campus in St. Helena, here to film a educational DVD video on the region; the other, a group five of America’s best up-and-coming sommeliers, here to visit a killer line-up of wineries and restaurants. Although the two groups are traveling separately, periodically our paths will cross, and the production crew, led by the James Beard Award-winning producer/director John Barkley, will check in with the sommeliers to hear about their experiences, making our project very much about discovering Rioja through the eyes of a young American wine professional.

Heading out to the Bilbao airport to pick up the production crew right now as a matter of fact, hitting the ground running shortly thereafter in Bilbao proper for a little environmental shooting. More to come……

Photo: Lunch at Mayor de Migueloa in Laguardia, Rioja Alavesa, Friday, September 7, 2007.

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