Between fields of vines and in front of the Alava town of Laguardia, the ivy-filled walls of a centenary winery emerge, Cosme Palace, one of the few that are part of the Historic Rioja Wineries. What was the family home of the owners has been converted, in part, into luxury accommodation to enjoy a unique experience.
There is no doubt that the place is spectacular, full of flowers and vegetation, surrounded by vineyards and far enough away to be a quiet place to rest, and close enough to discover this beautiful medieval village in whose subsoil caves and drafts to make and preserve wine during the Middle Ages. It is said that almost the entire town could be explored through these underground corridors.
The dining room of the house is dominated by a huge fireplace.
It is not an accommodation to use, the house must be rented in its entirety and under the concept of “invitation only”. A stay designed for families, groups of friends or work meetings in which to enjoy all the services courtesy of the house: 24-hour butler, private visits and tastings to the winery, bike rides among the vineyards, gastronomic dinners under supervision from the Basque Culinary Center and prepared by the renowned chef David Fernández, although it is also possible to request other types of simpler and lighter menus, such as fried eggs… of course, paired with wine from the winery itself.
A little history
In 1894, Don Cosme Palacio Bermejillo took over the reins of the family winery that his father had founded in Laguardia in 1863. He decided to study oenology in France and returned with groundbreaking ideas for the time: he built cement presses, used new French oak barrels to age the wine and introduces the grape destemming system, thus making it the most advanced winery in Rioja Alavesa at the time.
Old galleries of centennial openwork of ashlar stone in which the wine was aged .
He died in 1922 but the winery continued in the family until, in 1986, an investment group led by the Frenchman Jean Gervais bought the wineries and obtained the advice of the prestigious winemaker Michel Rolland.
But it was not until 1997 that Jose MarÃa Entrecanales, thanks to the passion his wife, Blanca Domecq Zurita, felt for wines, acquired the winery within Bodegas HA Barceló. Already in 2021, his son José Manuel unties the wineries from Acciona, and now it is his grandson, Gonzalo, who chairs Entrecanales Domecq e Hijos with Cosme Palacio as one of his best assets. It is already the third generation that is involved in this exciting wine project.
The boundless architecture of the new wine cathedrals
At home
The Cosme Palace House occupies nearly 4,000 square meters, and has 9 rooms and 4 suites to accommodate 26 adults spread over three floors (there is an interior elevator for easy access). The house was renovated in 2015 by the architect Gregorio Marañón, the landscape designer MarÃa Medina and the interior designer Cristina Arechabala, maintaining the original structure as much as possible.
The result is splendid: neutral, white and beige colours, with finishes in wood and exposed stone that make it simply cozy and beautiful. All very simple but thought to the millimeter so that nothing is missed, in a quiet environment that allows you to rest and fall asleep easily.
The rooms are decorated with flowers and plants collected the same day in the gardens of the house. And guests can use different rooms to read, play or just have a drink that they can serve themselves in the minibars in the lounges.
In the subsoil you can still see six centuries-old openwork galleries of ashlar stone that were used to store wine, and a few meters away are the old stables, now converted into a museum full of work tools. There is also a small gym and a room for beauty treatments. There is no swimming pool yet, but it has been planned to build it among vineyards and with views of the Ebro valley.
The table was elegantly set in the garden.
The vintage experience
When you arrive at the house, you are greeted by MarÃa, the guest manager who will ensure that everything is ready and to the customer’s liking, in addition to advising and attending to all the requests that are made so that the stay is completely personalized. She with her wide smile accompanies you to the room. Outside, in the patio, the smell of lavender is pleasantly intense, the other guests are waiting there, and today Rodolfo, the butler, has made a wonderful barbecue.
The table is elegantly set under a reed pergola this time, but there is also the possibility of eating near the stables, or at the table next to a small pond overlooking the vineyards, or inside, in a large dining room presided over by an enormous four-sided fireplace, or in the room with the wine presses embedded in the walls. And it is that the house multiplies according to the needs.
In October, guests can discover first-hand the winemaking process.
This October, and taking advantage of the harvest season, guests can discover first-hand the winemaking process: from cutting the clusters to harvesting, traditional treading, passage through the traditional press and tasting of the first wine. must, and all this accompanied by Soledad, the head of the wine tourism department who, with her explanations, manages to convey her passion for the world of wine in an easy and very practical way. An experience to share and have fun.
