Private Rioja Weinprobe Tour von San Sebastian

Similar to previous reviews: Ander was a fabulous guide for our full day Rioja wine tour! Super knowledgeable, extremely friendly and great listener (tweaked the wine tasting options to our favorites). We were in good hands! If in the area, this is a tour worth doing!

Mikel is such a great person. Great conversation, knows his history amd wine well. Spent such a great day with him.

We actually used Go Basque for three tours over four days, and by the end of the first day, Ander felt like an old friend! I cannot say enough good things about Go Basque -- from planning & scheduling to customizing three tours based on our specific interests to sharing a wealth of information and personal insight on a large breadth of Basque topics -- there isn't one thing that could have gone better with our experience. Using Ander's tips and recommendations, we felt like locals and were able to make the most of every minute in Bilbao, Rioja and San Sebastian. We fell in love with San Sebastian and have been raving about it and Go Basque since we returned home to Cincinnati.

My travel companion and I had the ultimate 5 star treatment from our guide Ander . First we spoke a couple of days before our tour . He wanted to know if we had any special requests that he could satisfy for so he could plan our day accordingly. He picked us up in the morning from our hotel in his most comfortable vehicle .And from that point on the trip was a mix of luxury and excitement. We went to beautiful bespoke wineries where we had tasted classic Riojas and lesser known varietals. Everything explained perfectly either by Ander or by the sommelier . We went to a lux winery of our choice for a sit down lunch which was delicious followed by a side trip to the medieval village of LaGuardia . We continued to more wineries and ended our day with a healthy consumption of more of Riojas best wines . I think we napped a bit on our way back when we werent viewing the peaceful and beautiful Rioja scenery . If you want to pamper yourself with a great wine tasting experience book with Ander , you deserve it!!!

True to prior reviews, Ander is an outstanding guide, scholar and historian. He thoughtfully arranged a series of private tastings to demonstrate the depth and breath of rioja reds, ranging from traditional to modern. The pace was leisurely and included a stop at the historic town of la guardia. However, the absolute best part of the tour was tapping into Ander’s encyclopedic knowledge of the culture, geography and history of the region and the Basque people...their gastronomy, customs, and deeply rooted sense of community. Much of this was on display during meetings with Ander’s engaging associates. Thank you Ander!

Ander was a terrific tour guide. He picked us up from our hotel and gave us an overview of what to expect throughout the day. We spent the drive talking about wine, the region, and any questions we had about Spain or the Basque Country. After our first stop and tasting, he catered our further tastings to our preferences from the first. Laguardia was a great stop for lunch and he recommended the seasonal, local favorites for a truly authentic lunch. Every care was taken to ensure we were comfortable and enjoying ourselves through the day. He is friendly, a great driver, and an excellent host. I highly recommend this tour.

My partner and I had an amazing day with Ander touring the Rioja region. We were both interested in knowing more about the wine making process and the wineries themselves, so Nina and Ander created a personalized tour that was exactly what we were looking for! Ander picked us up from San Sebastian and we enjoyed talking to him about life in Donostia and Spain on the drive. We had a tour through the wine making process at the first winery, and tastings at it and the other three wineries. Our favourite part of the day was a private and personalized tasting in a beautiful garden at a small winery. All four wineries were very unique and different from each other, and driving through the region with Ander were were able to see and learn so much about Rioja and its history. Ander took us for an excellent tapas lunch and a stroll through Laguardia, which was a perfect midpoint to the day. He was so friendly, kind, and charming, and we felt like we had spent the day with a friend. After one of the wineries we wanted to purchase from was closed, he even went back the next day and personally dropped off the wine himself! We could not have been happier, and agreed that this tour was the highlight of our entire trip. We would absolutely recommend this tour - it is 100% worth it. If we go back to Basque country (which we hope we do!), we will be booking another tour with Go Basque travel. Thank you so much!

My friend and I had a truly amazing day touring La Rioja with Ander from Go Basque Travel. We were picked up directly from our apartment in San Sebastián by Ander in a luxury sedan. I had needed to make an unplanned urgent stop at a pharmacy before we started our journey and Ander handled it like a pro ensuring I was able to get what I needed. Then on the stunning drive out to La Rioja Ander provided some really wonderful information about the local areas and we were driving through. Anecdotally, we ended up having a fascinating conversation on the drive with Ander about the Basque Country, its people and culture. It was excellent getting the perspective from someone who grew up locally. The great conversation definitely enhanced our experience on the tour. Since we were making good time we visited several wineries (which was an awesome surprise since only two were guaranteed initially when booking the tour). The wineries were pretty different one to the next, which we appreciated as it made the tour overall very interesting and not at all repetitive. In some wineries we were able to go deep in to their production areas and others we stuck to the showrooms for tasting. We also had a chance to explore a bit in a small town that housed one of the wineries, Ander took us around and showed us a few places in the town. We did then have lunch at another winery where Ander had taken special care to ensure my friend who is vegetarian was accommodated. The lunch was several courses... delicious, refined and not rushed at all. Eventually we got back in the car to meet back with Ander after we had finished eating and he took us to see a couple of sites that I had specially requested to snap some photos. Then we enjoyed the drive home with our stomachs full of delicious food and wine and again great conversation with Ander. For anyone who loves trying wine this is the tour to book. Over the course of the day we had tasted about 12-15 wines (the tastings also catered to our individual preferences which was fantastic, so my friend and I each tried some different wines). Finally, Ander was awesome - professional, courteous and a genuine pleasure to have as our guide. I absolutely recommend this tour to others, might seem pricey on first glance but I promise you it is worth it. I will do another tour with Go Basque when I’m back in Basque Country in the future.

This tour was incredible and unforgettable due to our tour our guide Ander.His personality, friendship and knowledge of tour area was enjoyable and time to remember.

We had the privilege of experiencing a personalized wine tour of the Rioja area with Ander and Nina, and the whole day was absolutely perfect from start to finish. We are wine enthusiasts who live in San Francisco (so we have access to a lot of great wine), and we were looking to explore wineries and wines that would no be commercially available to us back home. When I wrote to Ander and Nina they specified which of their tours would be best suited to our likely, and then they spent the time creating a full day experience at very small boutique wineries in the Rioja region. I cannot begin to describe how perfect the day way - it completely exceeded our expectations. Nina and Ander had contacted it place to let them know about what we were looking for, and each of the 4 places we visited was exceptional both in terms of the quality and varietal of wine as well as the staff interaction and discussion. We weren't looking for winery tours, just wine tasting and learning more about the varietals and different blending grapes of the area. Nina and Ander were extremely friendly and very knowledgeable about the area, and we learned a lot not only about wine in the Rioja region but many interesting Basque tidbits. We cannot recommend them enough - if you are looking for a personalized wine tour of Rioja, you must contact GO BASQUE and spend your day with Nina and Ander. For the price we paid, it was a tremendous value. We could not have explored the area in the detail we did with them had we attempted to do this type of tour on our own with a car, and we certainly could not have drank as much wine as we did (which was the whole point!). Absolute perfection! Thank you Nina and Ander for a truly perfect day.