Imagine yourself pulling into a sleepy nondescript Spanish town on a newly constructed railroad. Your journey from Bilbao, on the North coast, brought you from verdant countryside down into the arid leeward side of the Pyrenees, to the town of Haro on the high plateau of the Rioja wine region. If you had been making that trip in the 1880s, you would have been arriving during the first golden age of the Rioja, when many producers were setting up bodegas (wineries) along the new railway that had opened up easy trade.
Overview of Wines
The wines of the Rioja have been held in high esteem since those days, despite a few natural and man-made setbacks. Most noted for its smooth and long-lived Tempranillo-based reds, Rioja also produces some decent white wines from the Viura grape, and rosados (rosés), which are light and delicious. The region was the first in Spain to be awarded Denominación de Origen Calificada (DOCa), the highest distinction for a Spanish wine region.
Rioja Wine Regulations
From the DOCa regulations comes the first important distinction between what you might find on the shelf: ageing categories. There are four categories:
The last two designations are not made every year. When they are, they sometimes represent good values, especially when you consider the wine has been cellar-aged for you. Prices for Riojas range widely, though. A recent visit to a California retailer yielded Crianzas for as little as $8 to as much as $22, for example.
Red Wine Blends and Rioja Regions
Some other important distinctions among Riojas are drawn on the basis of grape variety blends and the three sub-regions. Haro is located in the Rioja Alta, which boasts over 40% of the region’s vineyards. Along with the Rioja Alavesa, a portion in the district of Alava, it is the highlands, about 1300-1600 ft above the sea, and enjoys more moderate climates than many other Spanish wine-growing regions. Tempranillo reigns here, along with the other classic blending components, Graciano and Mazuelo.
A small amount of Garnacha is also found up here, but the variety predominates in the Rioja Baja, which is much larger by geography but more sparsely planted. The Baja is less than 1000 ft above sea level and is much hotter and more arid. Garnacha, better known by its French name Grenache, thrives here, but can yield large, high-alcohol wines. Wines from the Baja are often blended into Rioja bottlings or sold off for local consumption, although exceptional sub-regional examples do exist.
The wines from the Rioja Alta are high in acid - essential for the ageability of wine - and tend toward a smoother style than some other Tempranillo-based Spanish wines. The best among these wines can age a long time, and even well made Crianzas can stand 10-15 years in a good cellar. Read about a recent tasting of Crianzas. Most of them, though, are consumed much younger, and even then can give you a taste of the remote train-stop bodegas of their origin.
Overview of Wines
The wines of the Rioja have been held in high esteem since those days, despite a few natural and man-made setbacks. Most noted for its smooth and long-lived Tempranillo-based reds, Rioja also produces some decent white wines from the Viura grape, and rosados (rosés), which are light and delicious. The region was the first in Spain to be awarded Denominación de Origen Calificada (DOCa), the highest distinction for a Spanish wine region.
Rioja Wine Regulations
From the DOCa regulations comes the first important distinction between what you might find on the shelf: ageing categories. There are four categories:
- Joven, meaning young - no minimum age or barreling requirement
- Crianza, meaning aged - whites spend at least six months in barrel, reds at least a year, and released in their third year
- Reservas - same minimum barrel ageing as Crianza, but have been aged a minimum of three full years before release
- Gran Reserva - reds must spend at least two years in oak, and three additional years in bottle at the bodega. Whites and rosados are rarely made in this style, but when they are, require six months barrel age
The last two designations are not made every year. When they are, they sometimes represent good values, especially when you consider the wine has been cellar-aged for you. Prices for Riojas range widely, though. A recent visit to a California retailer yielded Crianzas for as little as $8 to as much as $22, for example.
Red Wine Blends and Rioja Regions
Some other important distinctions among Riojas are drawn on the basis of grape variety blends and the three sub-regions. Haro is located in the Rioja Alta, which boasts over 40% of the region’s vineyards. Along with the Rioja Alavesa, a portion in the district of Alava, it is the highlands, about 1300-1600 ft above the sea, and enjoys more moderate climates than many other Spanish wine-growing regions. Tempranillo reigns here, along with the other classic blending components, Graciano and Mazuelo.
A small amount of Garnacha is also found up here, but the variety predominates in the Rioja Baja, which is much larger by geography but more sparsely planted. The Baja is less than 1000 ft above sea level and is much hotter and more arid. Garnacha, better known by its French name Grenache, thrives here, but can yield large, high-alcohol wines. Wines from the Baja are often blended into Rioja bottlings or sold off for local consumption, although exceptional sub-regional examples do exist.
The wines from the Rioja Alta are high in acid - essential for the ageability of wine - and tend toward a smoother style than some other Tempranillo-based Spanish wines. The best among these wines can age a long time, and even well made Crianzas can stand 10-15 years in a good cellar. Read about a recent tasting of Crianzas. Most of them, though, are consumed much younger, and even then can give you a taste of the remote train-stop bodegas of their origin.
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