One of the oldest tasting rooms in the world

This calao (as cellars are called locally), possibly the largest space in the entire underground complex of Conde de los Andes in Ollauri,is one of the oldest wine tasting rooms in the world.

For centuries,the families who owned the estateentertained their guests in this space with wines specially selected to celebratethe visit. By candlelight, vats and barrels were opened in later years, it was the turn of the first glass bottles, to fill the glasses and toast with the wines that had been laid asidein the silent darkness of the calao.

Nowadayswe are still deeply attached to such wonderful tradition: all of our visitors are welcomed with a glass of Conde de los Andes wine in the Calao de los Candiles. As it has been done at least during the last four centuries.

A journey through time: Ollauri, 1624

First, a confession: this story is fiction, but it is perfectly credible. We like to imagine that similar episodes unfolded in the depths of our cellar. The truth is that walking through these underground passageways full of history, it is not difficult to unleash your imagination.

And this is how we observe five characters chatting amicably in the Calao de los Candiles. Three of them look like merchants. Their comfortable, distinguished and now rather dusty clothes are revealing. In fact, they are merchants and shipowners from Cádiz who have travelled north to the Iberian mountain range to buy oak wood. We are at the onset of the reign of Philip IV and the growing seafaring trade to America demands more and more ships, and increasingly larger vessels. The remote mountain ranges of La Demanda and Cameros hold vast quantities of this commodity to build sturdy galleons.

The three men from Cádiz are happy.Nearby, in the Upper Najerilla valley, they have signed supply agreements with several sawmills in the area. With the tranquility of having a good deal under their belts, the merchants decide to spend a few days in the Ebro valley villages, whose vineyards and wines are beginning to gain fame. Someone tells them about the small village of Ollauri, between Haro and Briones, where some families produce exquisite wines in the caves excavated under their houses.

After a morning on horseback from Nájera, the men arrive at the gates of an ancient building in the upper part of the village.Informed of their arrival, they are welcome by José Diego de Paternina and Isabel de Briñas, owners of one of the largest cellars in the area. After the customary greetings, and before a meal of stewed beans and grilled lamb, the couple offers their guests a taste of the house's liquid jewel: a wine made with grapes grown in the vicinity of the cellar. They descend to the wide cave through a narrow staircase built, like the rest of the building, with sandstone ashlars.Five small chestnut and oak vats are lined up there. They contain a wine of golden colour, deep flavour and very good qualities, preserved since the previous harvest thanks to the stable and fresh environment of the calao. In recent decades, the predecessors of Isabel and José Diego expanded these caves following the advice of Gabriel Alonso de Herrera, a scholar from Talavera who in 1513 wrote in his treatise Obra de Agricultura: "A good cellar must be deep, cold, narrow, dark, thick-walled, and have a healthy roof; much better if it is double.

After a while, amid laughter and toasts, the men from Andalusia and Rioja have struck up a solid friendship.New deals emerge under the vault of the Calao de los Candiles and the merchants decide to carry back south a few pitchers of this delicious wine from Rioja. It is truly different from their beloved Sherry, which at that time arouses passions among their colleagues, the merchants of England.

Read more stories about Ollauri and our Conde de los Andes winery:

• Ollauri in the 20s: a legendary dinner
• Three stories from Ollauri
• Jovellanos' visit to Conde de los Andes

Do you want to enjoy a unique experience of tasting in the Calao de los Candiles?
Book your visit to Conde de los Andes here. See you soon!