Wine Industry Report

The complex, covering over 100,000 sq m, was created by Frank Gehry.

On October 10 King Juan Carlos officially inaugurated the complex designed by architect Frank Gehry for Bodega Marqués de Riscal in the town of Elciego (Alava). The complex covers 100,000 sq m devoted to the producing, pampering and studying wine, without neglecting the pleasures and enjoyment that comes so naturally to the world of wine.

The City of Wine houses Europe’s largest private wine collection, established in 1860 on the initiative of the Marquis of Riscal. The wineries have been renovated and extended with a cellar holding 4 million bottles, as well as a hotel, restaurant and wine-therapy spa.

Marques de Riscal’s initiative stands a watershed for Spain’s wine tourism, which now enters the ‘luxury collection’ segment in full force. The exclusive hotel is managed by Starwood, one of the world’s leading operators, owner in Spain of Madrid’s Palace hotel. The facilities also include a spa managed by French specialists Caudalie, with treatments based on wine and its variations. The hotel restaurant is directed by Rioja’s hottest chef Francis Paniego.

Canadian architect Frank Gehry was commissioned “something exciting, festive, because wine is pleasure”. The building’s exterior is covered in Gehry’s trademark undulating titanium echoing the Bilbao Guggenheim, his star work is Spain. In this project, however, Gehry has tinted the metal sheets in the corporate colours: pink (referencing red wine), gold (the mesh surrounding Riscal bottles) and silver (the bottle caps).

Marqués de Riscal is the latest in a long line of wineries that have evolved to become true cathedrals of wine culture, intended to showcase quality wine’s intrinsic values, to establish a bold brand image in a highly competitive market and to extend the company’s business into wine tourism. A-list architects behind some of these projects include Philippe Mazières (CVNE’s Hacienda Monasterio and Viña Real), Rafael Moneo (Bodegas Chivite), Santiago Calatrava (Bodega Ysios) or Ignacio Quemada (Bodega Juan Alcorta). The list could be extended further, to Mangado, Herzog & de Meuron, Bofill, Foster,… who are all contributing to this thriving renovation of Spain’s wine landscape.