Rioja

Lovers of Spanish wine Rioja is able to offer everything from simple, who did not know oak from the traditional wines aged in American oak Tempranillo from the trendy modern blends to max focused on the “terroir” of the samples.

In this article, the Master of Wine Sarah Jane Evans (Sarah Jane Evans, MW) explores the different styles of Rioja.

Our story begins at 1980m : until that time, there was no formal division of Rioja wine “Crianza” (crianza), “reserva” (reserva) and “Gran reserva” (gran reserva). Labels prior to 1980, just put the crop year. While in the bottle could be anything from an oak style “Grand reserve” to carbonitesm maceration in the style of Beaujolais Nouveau.

It took 20 years – was a new wave of modern Rioja. These wines, unlike traditional, has given no guarantees of age.

Another 15 years go, in the focus of the grape variety and terroir.

For a couple of decades the simple basics of wine Rioja turned out to be blurred. On the other hand, 35 years later, the picture again begins to emerge.

Traditional vs modern Rioja

In the view of most traditional Rioja old-school is significantly aged in American oak wine predominantly from Tempranillo, are not very dense, with a moderate alcohol content and a characteristic bouquet of age, very harmonious and elegant.

In bodega Rioja still hold many bottles of this wine, and Spanish restaurants with their own cellars still sell them at very reasonable prices.

These wines are not frequent guests of international auctions. But interest in them is constantly growing. What will be produced today Rioja in 50 years?

These wines have changed. Even the proponents of the classics today are paying more attention and the vine and the winery. Many traditional wines are the mark of modernity.

Truly the hallmark of Rioja’s new wave became intense color and super concentrated character of these wines, thanks to which they have added fans among lovers of rich red fruit.

This wine is the result of focusing on the vines, especially in terms of research clones (like those conducted Roda, for example), yield reduction, fermentation, separate small batches and aging in French oak.

Often, these were wines from 100% Tempranillo. They are released to the market after such a long aging in barrelsbottles. In addition to the purely stylistic effects, it is undoubtedly more interesting winemaker from a commercial point of view, because it accelerates the return on investment.

The purity of complexity

Thank God, the times ink, sugary and overloaded with oak Rioja seems to have passed. Today the region offers a brilliant palette of options. While there is still a place for research, as in any wine region at this level.

Take the oak: the wine producers “Gran reserva”, a mixture of French and American oak, including those who until recently, was exclusively in new French barrels. Insatiable use of oak is gradually giving way to the production of more coherent and more complex wines.

As for grape varieties, many contemporary winemakers are doing pure Tempranillo. Personally, I prefer blends. The mere use of one species does not bear advantages, in addition to clear label.

Mazuela (Carignan), Garnacha and Graciano has long played a small but important role. Like Cabernet Sauvignon, which appeared in the Rioja from Marques de Riscal in 1862. In recent years there has been a trend of using these “Junior” of sorts in solo performance. Contino Graciano from can be called the most successful case, especially given the difficulty of working with this variety.

The Garnacha from warmer parts of Rioja for a long time used in blends, the winemakers it cooler part of Rioja Alta. Now Garnacha appeared a powerful supporter in the person of Alvaro Palacios (Alvaro Palacios, Creator of the wine “L’ermita”), which is working to restore the reputation of this variety in the Eastern part of Rioja, in Alfaro (La Rioja Baja). Can look it up Valmira wine from the Garnacha from old vines – “very Burgundian, very fragrant.”

Of the newcomers, the vineyards appear varieties such as Tinta by the name of Maturana (Maturana Tinta, a red by the name of Maturana), giving red wine a good acidity; and Tempranillo Blanco (Tempranillo Blanco, Tempranillo white) – a genetic mutation of Tempranillo, which promises a full-bodied white wine, not lacking in freshness.

But they still need time to form and begin to produce a visible harvest.

In search of terroir

In principle, the trend of the last time is nothing new. Is the rise of a new generation of producers who want the best expression of the character of their vineyards. Goble pruning, old vines, less new oak – that are inherent in their style elements.

The difficulty is that Rioja is a very geologically diverse region located between the various mountain ranges on both sides of the river Ebro. There are limestone-clay soils and clay-ferrous and alluvial deposits.

If simplified, Rioja Alta (Rioja Alta), located above the rest in the West, often gives a more relaxed wine, with bright fruit. To the North of the river Ebro – La Rioja alavesa (Rioja Alavesa) – the bulwark Tempranillo: more full-bodied, fresher wine.

Baja La Rioja (Rioja Baja) in the East warmer, lower land (irrigation is permitted here), with a more pronounced Mediterranean climate: here are the rich wines with the highest alcohol content.

Some large producers prefer to mix wines from different vineyards, others try to Express their individual terroirs (among them Benjamin Romeo, David Sampedro Gil, Olivier Riviere, Abel Mendoza and Telmo Rodriguez).

If you remove the two extremes – i.e. the most a cheap, mass-market brands and ridiculously pretentious bottle with a strangled oak Tempranillo in the middle will stay wide and variegated spectrum, which is well worth exploring. Choose something for yourself, pour a glass and think about the fact that any tradition, as they say, began as an innovation. Rioja is true as ever.