Bodega Miguel Merino

I drove by today very spontaneously, as the winery was on my way from Salamanca to Bilbao. The tastings for the day were unfortunately already fully booked and the farm store closed due to too much demand, so it's best to call or email in advance regarding appointments.

Nonetheless, Erika showed me the wine cellars and presented two wines for free tasting. Erika is a super polite, accommodating and great personality, thanks again for that! By the way, her English is excellent!
The wines (Vitola Reserva and Blanco) were absolutely top notch, so I went straight to a distributor afterwards and bought a few bottles.
Thanks again! You guys are great!

By far the best wine we tasted in La Rioja. Many Yelp reviews start out the same way, but not from a person who tasted wine at 23 Bodegas in the Rioja Alta and Alavesa DOC. Having now tasted wine at over 225 wineries around the world, I can say that the three red wines we tasted here are spectacular representations of Tempranillo. All were showing great fruit, perfumed nose and rich color.

We tasted a beautiful white wine that Miguel makes in limited quantities and not every year.

We tasted 3 reds: 2012 Reserva, 2012 Gran Reserva and the 2015 Vina Jovenes. The price range was between 10 - 14 Euros. Wines of this quality at these price points have made the region wildly popular, spoiled the Europeans and simultaneously frustrated the US market with the high cost of shipping/distribution and marketing.

Our tasting was hosted by Miguel himself. His son Miguel, daughter-in-law, Erika joined in along with 8 friends who were from Spain. We were especially happy for Miguel and his new grandchild.

If you have limited time in La Rioja, visit Miguel. Going anywhere else could be a huge disappointment and a large waste of your time. Contact him before your visit to make sure someone is there for your tasting. We found him very responsive on email. His Bodega is right outside the walls of the medieval village of Briones.

We wished Miguel and long and happy life in his new role as grandfather.

The USA source for Bodegas Miguel Merino is K&L Wine Merchants. They have various locations. The representative is Shaun Green in the Redwood City office.

We are always delighted when we visit this small, outstanding, father-son winery located below the hilltown of Briones. This is one of our favorite wineries to take guests since the visit is so personal. Guided tours are now available Monday-Saturday, normally starting at 10:00 am and 12:00 pm, but other times can be scheduled. This is a small family operation, so you must reserve in advance.

My friends and I had an incredible time at Miguel Merino! The wines are exquisite and Erika was both passionate and knowledgeable in giving the tour. Especially after touring some of the larger bodegas in Haro, we really enjoyed the intimate experience at this family winery. Their wines are beautiful and their hospitality is amazing; I would highly recommend to anyone in the area!!

We visited this winery at the beginning of the summer. Erika was a wonderful host to take the two of us on a private tour. It was great to hear the story of her family in such a personal way. She talked very passionately about her wine and was happy to answer our questions. After the tour we sampled some of their wines and all were of great quality.

Great hospitality by Erika and Miguel. Thankful to them for hosting us. Great wines, all very well thought out and processed. Muchos Gracias.

Cannot speak highly enough about our experience at Bodega Miguel Merino. Érika was wonderful, and the wines were some of our favorites in Rioja. You cannot miss this if you are in the region.

I'd love to say this was a less than excellent experience so that this gem won't be over-run by the time I manage to get back to Spain but the truth is the whole experience was a delight! Miguel himself started our tour; endearing personal stories mixed with fascinating secrets of wine production. He handed us off to Erika who was also delightful. The whole family's love and devotion to making superb wines came through in the stories of the tour (worth every penny). The 200 yo building they renovated was worth the tour fee and then you get the stories on top. And the wine was by far the best we tasted in the entire region. Thank you Familia Merino!!!

This was the best wine tour and tasting ever! Very personal with delicious wine! Erica was the perfect guide and hostess, sharing a wealth of knowledge and insight. Good for people that enjoy smaller wineries.

We really enjoyed our visit in this family winery. Extremely delicious wine and very friendly guide!

We had the chance of meeting and tasting some of their wines with Miguel, the owner. Extremely attentive, knowledgeable of his wines and kind with his time. Their wines are superiorly good with an excellent quality-price ratio.

A must visit! This is a gem in Rioja and must be experienced. Miguel is so friendly and his daughter in law, Erika is so passionate about the wine they make. This family's heart is on the vines that they harvest and it shows.

One of the best wineries in the Rioja region !! Very personal with a lot of atitude !!

The sweetest people, and the wine is fantastic. Thank you Érika.

The best personal ever and also great wines

Tuve la orpotunidad de conocer esta bodega hace varios años, más de 15. Y ahora, leyendo los comentarios veo que siguen ofreciendo calidad y humanidad de la buena, la mejor.
Toda una experiencia conocer esa bodega, degustar sus vinos y conocer a Miguel Merino. Salió un pareado... en línea con el sentido de humor maravilloso de esta familia encantadora.
En cualquier momento aparezco por ahí!!

Esta bodega cuenta con sus propias viñas con diversas variedades y clones. Si bien son limitadas y numeradas con uvas de Viñas viejas los sabores que se logran en cada vino son muy originales y particulares.

Desde que conocemos sus vinos, nos enamoraron, es una bodega familiar, con una produccion pequeña pero de gran calidad.
El viñas jóvenes es muy rico, los blancos espectaculares, hoy hemos vuelto y nos hemos llevado unas cuantas cajas para casa, Miguel es un encanto, agradable y cercano, un placer poder degustar estos vinos ...en Hondarribia.
Volveremos pronto...
Gracias Miguel., como siempre un placer.

Une Bodega a taille humaine, familiale, une petite production, 50 000 bouteilles par an, rien à voir avec les grands domaines qui sortent jusqu'à 500000 bouteilles ! Mais attention, la qualité des vins est magnifique, superbe, des arômes, de la finesse, de la légèreté, et une puissance maitrisée. Nous ne sommes pas ici sur le stéréotype des vins de Rioja, ici, on joue sur de la dentelle et du velours. La cuvée Quintal, pure grenache surprenante, et Loma, sont d' une belle subtilité. Il y a comme un air d' opéra, un bruissement de feuilles, le ressac de l' océan, des pas dans la neige lorsque l' on a le plaisir de boire les vins de la famille Merino.
Au vue de la situation actuelle, la visite et dégustation nous a été offerte pour notre plus grand plaisir. L' accueil de Miguel fils et de sa femme Erika a été pleine de gentillesse, avec le temps nécessaire et suffisant pour nous expliquer le fonctionnement de la cave et les différentes cuvées.
N' hésitez pas, cette Bodega fait certainement partie du top Ten des Bodegas en Rioja, et je ne plaisante pas, les vins sont une pure merveille !
Un grand merci pour ce beau moment.
A bientôt,😊😋.🍷🍷🍷

Muchas gracias Erika por tu pasión, tus conocimientos y sobre todo por tu tiempo. Una hora de catas que se ha pasado volando pero que ha sido suficiente para enamorarnos de vuestros vinos y de todo el cariño que hay detrás de ellos.

Aquí tenéis unos fans para toda la vida!