The Palace of Marqués de Vargas
The palace was built in the middle of the eighteenth century by the vice-admiral of the Spanish Overseas Fleet, Tomás Gómez de Gayangos. Its style is what was known at the time as Barroco Criollo, that is to say, Spanish Baroque with American colonial influences.
With the expansion of the family owner's winemaking business, their idea was to create an emblematic centre that would combine the different synergies within wineries, choosing the Palace of Marqués de Vargas as the focal point and key site from which the Varma Group would take care of dissemination and marketing.
In order to adapt the site to this new style of operation the building was refurbished, remodelling its rooms for accommodation purposes, along with a conference centre and venues for business meetings, etc.
In addition, an area of independent tourist apartments was built in the former stables area, to create a large hotel complex, including the suites and rooms that were refurbished in the main building.
In addition to all the above, the site possesses a large lounge, a library, bar, private dining rooms, and all the services that clients need, as well as three spacious rooms for conventions and various different types of events, including weddings and banquets.
The Palace Apartments
Palace Events
If you would like to organise an event at the Palace of Marqués de Vargas, please contact us.
Casalarreina
This beautiful village, formerly named the village of Naharruri and located in the region of Haro, in the heart of La Rioja Alta, owes its name today to Queen Isabella II of Spain, who was obliged to stay in the town when her carriage broke down on one of her many trips to Lequeitio, the town where she had her summer residence for a time; more specifically, the Palace of Zubieta.
In the centre of this same square is the family palace, opposite the Monastery of Nuestra Señora de la Piedad, built in the sixteenth century, and residence of the congregation of Dominican cloistered nuns.
The Wine Cellars
The Marquisate of Vargas brings together two branches of the family linked to the world of wine since the beginning of the seventeenth century:
firstly, the Pobes family, whose ancestors, at the end of the eighteenth century, brought the Bordeaux winemaking method to Labastida, a village in La Rioja Alavesa and where the family possessed two wineries, as well as another three in Casalarreina and two more in Ollauri, villages in La Rioja Alta.
Secondly, the de la Mata family’s first reference to wineries dates back to 1840, to vineyards in the vicinity of Logroño, although this noble family’s current economic venture started out in 1942 under Hilario de la Mata, eleventh Marquis of Vargas. This entrepreneurial aristocrat founded the company Hilario de la Mata Representaciones S.L. in Madrid. and began to distribute wines from the Rioja Franco Española winery among the most reputable hotels in the capital; a company that grew to form the current Varma S.A. distribution group, thanks to the drive of his successor and brothers.
To say the name Marqués de Vargas is to name a noble family with centuries devoted with passion to the production and marketing of excellent Rioja wines.
Our history dates back to 1840, when Don Felipe de la Mata, eighth Marquis of Vargas, decided to plant the first vineyards on the estate of Hacienda Pradolagar.
The family legacy continued with his son Pelayo and brother Francisco, 9th Marquis of Vargas, a famous figure in Logroño who became mayor of the city at the end of the nineteenth century. Both brothers kept alive the passion for their Pradolagar vines.