Premises in the Thematic Wine Centre Villa Lucía are wheelchair accessible: thanks to a multimedia interactive exhibition in its wine cellar-museum, secrets about world famous Rioja wine are within reach to all.

The wine producing region of Rioja is situated in the Ebro valley being its northern border determined by the Sierra de Cantabria mountains. The 57,000 hectares of vines which currently make up the region of the Denominación de Origen Calificada Rioja are located in three Autonomous Communities, La Rioja, Navarra and the Basque Country. The diversity in soil and climate has led to the classification of this wine region into three sub-areas: Rioja Alta, Rioja Baja and Rioja Alavesa which gathers together more than one hundred wineries from this prestigious region located to the south of Alava (a province in the Basque Country) between the Sierra de Cantabria and the Ebro.

The "Villa Lucía" Wine Thematic Centre is located in the outskirts of the village of Laguardia. Situated in 10,000 meters of grounds, Villa Lucía has a 2,400 square meters main building, botanical gardens with over 200 different plant and tree varieties, outdoors exhibition areas and conditioned tents.

Stone, adobe and wood have been used to make the main building in accordance with the traditional houses, structures and wine cellars in the region. The parking area is in front of the main door ( level entrance ). This three storey building has been designed to enjoy, taste and divulge the culture of Rioja wine: there's an accessible lift to reach the cellar-museum and the upper floors. On the ground floor you'll find the reception area, the library, the wine collection, an exhibition room and the shop. Premises are wheelchair accessible but the second cellar, there is a "calado-bodega" there that has to be accessed by a narrow stair and can be seen through a glass slab in the floor of the wine-cellar museum that can be accessed by the elevator. Visiting this museum you'll be given notions about wine culture, its fermentation process and explanations about the different type of wines in an interactive way. There are informative and didactic panels, tools, holograms recreations of traditional works, explanatory models, and antique tools. you will even have the chance to take part in a virtual wine-tasting through wine colours, smells and flavour with the help of interesting and interactive boards and other tools used in the wine industry.

A large meeting room equipped for holding conferences, conventions and dinner parties is on the first floor while the second one houses offices. Impressive views of Laguardia, the vines and the mountains can be seen from the third floor.

Two adapted toilets are available in this main building: one is located on the ground floor and another one on the second floor.

The guided visit to the Thematic Wine Centre Museum "Villa Lucía" takes about 50 minutes and prices range from 4,5 Euros ("simple" guided visit) to 14,5 Euros (wine-tasting included). Booking in advance is advisable, especially for groups.

Pathways in the botanical gardens are wheelchair accessible too: they'll take you along an outdoors exhibition where antique machinery and tools, all of which were used in winemaking, are displayed.

Opening Schedule:
Tuesday to Sunday: 9 to 14:00 / 16:30 to 20:00
Mondays: Closed (except for previously arranged group visits)

Centro Temático del Vino Villa-Lucía
Carretera Logroño s/n
01300 Laguardia (Alava)
Tel: (+34) 945 600 032 - (+34) 945 246 409
Fax: (+34) 945 600 108 - (+34) 945 227 260
E-mail: museo@villa-lucia.com
www.villa-lucia.com

Rebecca Arce

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