It all began with a bottle of Marqués de Riscal from 1929, the year Frank Gehry was born. That gesture helped persuade the architect behind Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum to accept an unusual challenge: to design a hotel at the heart of a historic winery in Rioja Alavesa.
On 10 October 2006, a building crowned with titanium roofs opened in Elciego, transforming both the landscape and the way people experience wine. Two decades later, the hotel has become a setting for cinematic stories and cultural encounters, while its international profile continues to grow.
“Hotel Marqués de Riscal is an architectural jewel born of the innovative and daring spirit that has defined the winery throughout its history. Today, we celebrate its 20th anniversary and raise a glass to remaining at the forefront while staying true to our identity,” says Alejandro Aznar, Chairman of Marqués de Riscal.
A bottle, an architect and a wine bearing his name
When Marqués de Riscal approached Frank Gehry, winner of the 1989 Pritzker Architecture Prize, about building a hotel alongside its winery, the architect was not initially convinced. During a visit, his hosts opened a bottle from 1929, his birth year. That moment marked the beginning of an extraordinary relationship.
The result was a composition of asymmetrical forms and titanium ribbons in wine, gold and silver tones. Gehry described it as “a wonderful creature, with its hair flying in all directions, leaping over the vineyards”. Following his death in December 2025, the building in Elciego remains one of his most distinctive works.
The relationship also found expression in wine. To coincide with the hotel’s opening in 2006, Marqués de Riscal introduced Frank Gehry Selection, whose first vintage was 2001, as a tribute to the architect. Twenty years later, the wine remains available.
The hotel’s construction also reflected the vision of the company’s Board of Directors: to integrate contemporary architecture into a winery complex founded in the 19th century.
From Hollywood to Álex de la Iglesia
The building’s distinctive character soon attracted international figures. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie visited the hotel in 2007; in 2008, Gwyneth Paltrow travelled to Rioja Alavesa while filming the culinary series Spain... On the Road Again.
Álex de la Iglesia chose the hotel as a location for El cuarto pasajero (The Fourth Passenger), starring Alberto San Juan, Blanca Suárez and Ernesto Alterio.
“Arriving at Hotel Marqués de Riscal was a balm for everyone. For the crew, it offered a brief respite after several weeks of filming on the road. And it did the same for the characters: it is there that Julián (Alberto San Juan) begins to realise that Lorena (Blanca Suárez) is not quite who he thought she was, and that uncertainty drives the second half of the film. Meanwhile, Alterio’s character, that ‘fourth passenger’, a demonic satyr, sets about provoking people and triggering increasingly absurd situations. Hotel Marqués de Riscal provided a counterpoint to the chaos that brings the film to a close,” the director recalls.
From a bottle of 1929 to fifteen bottles of 1925
On 5 June 2025, Marqués de Riscal hosted the main celebration marking the centenary of the Rioja Designation of Origin, presided over by His Majesty King Felipe VI.
For the occasion, fifteen bottles from the 1925 vintage were opened using heated bottle tongs. They had been preserved in the winery’s historic bottle cellar, which houses wines dating back to its first vintage in 1862.
A new way to experience wine
Part of The Luxury Collection, Hotel Marqués de Riscal offers 61 rooms, including ten suites. Its culinary offering, overseen by Francis Paniego, and the Spa Vinothérapie® Caudalie complete an experience that brings together architecture, landscape, wine and wellbeing.
The hotel welcomes around 13,500 guests a year, mainly from the United States, Spain, the United Kingdom and Brazil. The City of Wine receives more than 100,000 visitors annually. Its accolades include the Villégiature Award for hotel architecture in 2007 and one Michelin Key, held since 2024.
The winery has also hosted landmark tastings, including a tasting of 114 vintages in 2015. In 2022, it presented a selection of 30 vintages celebrating its historic ties with France to mark the launch of Tapias, a wine sold through the historic La Place de Bordeaux marketplace. It has also welcomed wine industry professionals for a range of gatherings
Gehry’s legacy lives on
Twenty years on, Marqués de Riscal continues to bring innovation to the City of Wine through solar installations at the hotel and winery, energy efficiency measures, and projects focused on regenerative agriculture and environmental conservation.
The recently launched Club Jean Pineau features a watercolour of Hotel Marqués de Riscal on the first label in its collection as a tribute to Gehry. The initiative creates a symbolic link between the architect and Jean Pineau, a pivotal figure in the introduction of barrel ageing at the company.
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