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| Hotel Marquez De Riscal, Elciego, Spain |
This stunning and venturesome hotel building is home to Marquez De Riscal Hotel & Winery and was designed by distinguished Canadian architect, Frank Gehry - the same chap behind the world's architecturally celebrated Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao. We had travelled from London to Hotel Marquez de Riscal for a wedding that same afternoon. After what most brits have described an abysmal start to the UK summer, we were excited for the sun, celebrations and Marquez de Riscal's very own wine and food (their main restaurant currently holds one michelin star).
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| Lunch from the wine bar, Marquez De Riscal, Elciego |
It is quite a magnificent and honestly obtrusive structure, situated at the foot of a small town bordering the Rioja wine country, yet despite this - it doesn't feel out of place. It's truly awesome when you approach the Hotel and once arrived, there are spaces everywhere where you can enjoy vistas across to the main village and church, not to mention their well manicured vines all lending itself to the feeling of a real getaway.
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| Incredible vistas, Hotel Marquez de Riscal, Elciego, Spain |
The bride and groom picked this location and venue as it's somewhere they frequent themselves and what better way to celebrate your nuptials than somewhere you both love. We had a delightful outdoor ceremony on the grounds which are immaculately kept, followed by the most delectable small bites and bubbly. Then celebrated in one of their banquet rooms with an incredible six course menu from their michelin kitchen together with wine pairings from their own estate. Marquez De Riscal wine is also quite celebrated and each guest was bestowed a bottle of one of their finer tipples for good measure.
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| Hosting events, popular canapes, friendly staff - Hotel Marquez de Riscal, Elciego, |
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| Wedding Banquet - Red Shrimp Carpaccio (left), Sweets Bar, Crystal Peppers with egg |
So much work goes into planning a wedding (the bride and groom did amazing) or large event, and the staff, the wine and food were outstanding. If you are wedding planning, its obviously easy for me to recommend this place due to its beauty but its important to understand that they were able to execute incredible food, in large numbers with celebrations until or 3-4am in the morning. I also understand they can cater up to 650 people and have 8 separate spaces for meetings or events so I guess they know what they're doing.
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| Glazed lamb, Cod Flakes with 'charcoal' - Hotel Marquez de Riscal michelin Restaurant, Elciego |
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| Exciting dishes, Hotel Marquez de Riscal michelin Restaurant, Elciego |
We celebrated into the wee hours of the morning it certainly helped waking up the next day to such a beautiful location. We enjoyed a lovely breakfast on their balcony and a fabulous lunch of octopus and salmon tartare. We recovered by the pool most of the day and that evening we tried out their michelin restaurant with a lovely view overlooking the town. The dinner was an exciting tasting menu with contrasting flavours, plates of faux gastronomy and super produce all round. Best plates were the cuttlefish tagliatelle with baked beetroot (no photo - I ate before thinking) and the cod flakes which comes with some fake charcoal (delicious sweet pepper) and the glazed lamb meatball. You will love the small bites too!
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San Sesbastian where we nourish ourselves on the world famous pintxos (small bites)
