 Rioja, the Richest Winegrowing Region
of Spain
Rioja, after the area with the small River Oja, is the
richest wine-growing region of Spain for table wines.
According to its wines the area is divided into three
parts: Rioja Baja (the Lower Rioja) which produces heavy
fruity wines with a high alcohol content; Rioja Alta
(the Upper Rioja) which is the area of the great aged
and mature quality wines, with a moderate alcohol content.
They are very fragrant, of different shades of red and
have a balanced, unmistakable flavor. These wines lend
themselves to being aged in oak vats. Young white wines
are also produced. Rioja Alavesa produces red wines which
are usually drunk young and have a pleasant trace of
acidity.
The wines of this Dominación are famous and develop their best as mature
quality wines. The following varieties can be distinguished according to their
age:
- Vino de crianza is the one aged for at least one
year in vats and another year in bottles. It is usually
a three-, four- and five-year old wine.
- Vino de reserva is the one aged for at least two
years in vats and another in bottles.
- Vino de gran reserva is aged in oak barrels for
at least three years and another in bottles in the
famous Rioja underground calaos (cellars). These wines
are of the best years.
All these wines are a real treasure of the Spanish
cuisine and occupy a place of honor among the most
famous table wines in the world because of the environment
from which they come and because of the skill and technique
that goes into their production.
Most Rioja wines are normally the result of the harmonious
combination, in varying proportions, of the different
varieties grown in the region and the different sub-areas
within them.
Rioja wines exhibit much aromatic complexity. They
are fresh, with a medium body, a balanced structure,
and an excellent bouquet.
- Red wines: Classic wines of bright color with a
fresh, penetrating aroma; light in the mouth with medium
alcohol content. Tempranillo is the predominant variety
used to make these wines.
- Rosé wines: Bright
pink wines with a strong fragrance. They are light
and fresh in the mouth, with medium alcohol content.
Garnacha is the predominant variety used to make these
wines.
- White wines: Greenish-yellow, which can be
more or less pale. They exhibit fine aromas and prove
light in the mouth with fairly low alcohol content.
Viura is the predominant variety used to make these
wines.
Rioja wines are divided into different categories,
which are based on minimum ageing periods:
- Young wines:
Wines in their first or second year, which keep their
primary freshness and fruitiness.
- Crianza wines: Wines
which are at least in their third year, having spent
a minimum of one year in casks and a few months in
the bottle. For white wines, the minimum cask-ageing
period is 6 months.
- Reserva wines: Selected wines of
the best vintages with an excellent potential that
have been aged for a minimum of 3 years, with at least
one year in casks. For white wines, the minimum ageing
period is 2 years, with at least 6 months in casks.
- Vinos de Gran Reserva
- Gran Reserva Wines: Selected
wines from exceptional vintages which have spent at
least 2 years in oak casks and 3 years in the bottle.
For white wines, the minimum ageing period is 4 years,
with at least one year in casks.
VINIFICATION
Once the grapes have been taken to the bodega, different
processes are used to make the wine, depending on whether
we are making white, rosé or red:
WHITE WINES: The whole grape is passed to a draining
tank. The stems are then removed and it is pressed
to obtain the must which is transferred to the fermentation
tanks.
ROSÉ WINES: The grape is destemmed and lightly
crushed and sent to draining tanks. Here, it is left
to macerate for a short period. It is then pressed
and left for a day for the suspended particles to settle.
It is then decanted and the almost crystalline must
is transferred to the fermentation tanks.
RED WINES: There are two ways of making red wine in
Rioja. The most widely used today involves the removal
of the stalks in a destemmer before fermentation. This
is more appropriate for wines which are to be aged
in wood. In the traditional system, the whole grape
bunches are fermented in large pools. This is known
as "carbonic
maceration." The resulting wines are smoother,
with good body, intense color and ideally suited for
drinking during their first year. In both cases the
must is over pumped during fermentation, to ensure
good color extraction and maintain a constant temperature
throughout the tank. Both systems aim to achieve uniform
fermentation and to ensure the aromas from the must
are not lost.
FERMENTATION
After fermentation, the wine is decanted and transferred
to storage tanks for quality controls. At this point
the Control Board carries out sensorial and laboratory
tests to determine whether the wine deserves to be
considered a Rioja.
AGEING
Rioja wines are aged in 225-litre oak casks, with periodic
rackings, followed by a further period of bottle ageing.
There are over 270 ageing bodegas in Rioja which have
a total of over 900,000 casks. The different Rioja
wine categories are based on minimum ageing periods,
which can vary between 1 and 3 years in casks and between
6 months and 6 years in the bottle, depending on whether
the wine is to be a Crianza, a Reserva or a Gran Reserva.
Final assessment of a decade: Rioja rounds off a period
of spectacular growth.
Rioja wines began the twenty-first century on unbeatable
terms, judging by the buoyant final assessment of the
D.O.’s progress over the last decade —already
being labeled as "prodigious" by some. The
spectacular growth enjoyed by the Rioja winemaking
sector is matched by the unbeatable market position
Rioja wines have reached. The region has strengthened
its traditional leadership in the Spanish market and
reinforced its penetration in the high quality segment
of foreign markets, not forgetting that Rioja is one
of the few DOs in the world which sells the whole of
its production bottled at source.
Among the more significant figures of this assessment
of the last decade of the twentieth century, the one
that stands out most is the great increase in the number
of ageing bodegas (from 103 in 1990 to 262 in 2000)
and in the capacity for producing aged wines (from
547,000 casks to 940,000, which allows for the existence
of over 300 million liters of aged wines). Annual sales
of this type of wine have doubled (some 50 million
liters in 1990 compared with today’s
95 million liters) while multi-million peseta investments have been made in new
facilities and casks (the total storage capacity of bodegas has jumped from 604
to 1,195 million liters over this period). Wine quality has also received a strong
impetus, and Riojas are receiving widespread recognition both from experts and
the general public, with special stardom going to the so-called "top profile
wines." In an international environment clearly
geared towards the consumption of quality red wines,
the demand for Rioja has moved distinctly to aged wines,
which affords the bodegas greater differentiation,
greater prestige and greater earnings. In fact, the
annual turnover of the bodegas will have leaped from
38 to 155 thousand million pesetas over the decade,
an estimated figure reached on the basis of average
export prices (374 pesetas/liter in 1990 compared with
969 pesetas/liter in 2000).
Other Spanish Wine Regions
CASTILE
Denominaciones de Origin are Rueda, Ribera del Duero
and Toro. They produce reds and light reds with between
13 and 17% alcohol. Some of them are universally famous:
those produced between Valbuena, Quintanilia de Arriba
and Quintanilia de 0nésimo. They mature exceptionally,
well for which Bordeaux barrels and underground wine
cellars are used. These wines have a limited production
and sell at very high prices. Around Rueda very pale
and transparent whites of excellent quality and 11.5-14%
are produced. Dry, sherry-type wines are also made
there.
GALICIA
Its Denominación de Origin includes Rias Baixas,
Ribeiro and Valdeorras. They are light, agreeably acid
white and red wines with low alcohol content, excellent
companions of the typical Galician cuisine.
NAVARRE
Denominación de Origen: Navarra. The area basically
produces red wines, which at times reach 14.5% alcohol
and are perfectly in tune with the heavy cuisine of
the region.
ARAGON
Denominaciones de Origin exists for Campo de Borja,
Cariñena and Somontano. In this area, the wines
are very red with high alcohol content. Their aroma
is very concentrated and their taste is powerful, ideal
for very spicy meat and heavy dishes
CATALONIA
Here the regions with a Denominación de Origin
are Ampurdán-Costa Brava, Alella, Costers del
Segre, Penedés, Priorato, Tarragona and Terra
Alta. There are magnificent reds, whites and light
reds in the area, all of which have a long tradition.
The most sought after are the Penedés and Priorato
wines. The former are famous because of their whites
and have an alcohol content of between 10 and 13%.
The Priorato wines are probably the ones receiving
most skilled attention in the entire country, especially
the dark reds which have a velvety flavor and complex
aroma.
They are fairly heavy and have high alcohol content.
In Tarragona, the most typical ones are white wines,
which are appropriate for fish and as aperitifs. The
cavas or sparkling wines from Saint Sadurní d'Anoia
(Barcelona) have developed great quality and are widely
found inside and outside Spain.
LA MANCHA
Denominaciones de Origin includes Mancha, Méntrida,
Vaidepeñas and Almansa. This is the great Spanish
wine reservoir, which includes the Provinces of Toledo,
Ciudad Real, Cuenca and Albacete. In general the wines
are very widely drunk and are of good quality: mild,
dry, with almost no acidity. The most commonly known
are the ones from Valdepeñas, i.e., light reds
and whites. All of them tend to be drunk young, not
more than one or a maximum of two years old, while
the alcohol content lies between 11 and 13%.
ANDALUSIA
Has the following Denominaciones de Origin: Jerez-Xèrés-Sherry,
Manzanilia-Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Málaga,
Montilla-Moriles and Condado de Huelva. Its wines are
the most characteristic of the country and internationally
the most famous. They are produced by a unique method,
which has something of a miracle about it, since it
is not a wine from one particular harvest, as is the
rule, but the result of different mixtures made over
the years.
They are aged in oak vats and have subtle differences,
which are classified into ten groups, Fino: straw colored
and transparent, dry, light and very fragrant; 15 to
17% alcohol. Amontillado: amber colored; 16 to 18%
alcohol. Oloroso: dark gold, powerful to the taste,
yet light; 18 to 20% alcohol. Palo Cortado: halfway
between amontillado and oloroso. Raya: of the oloroso
family, but less fragrant and less strong to the taste.
Pedro Ximenez: sweet and very fragrant. Moscatel: sweet
raisin wine. Cream: wine produced by adding alcohol
to grape juice which has not really begun to ferment.
Color: a wine produced by mixing fresh and concentrated
grape juice.
Manzanilla: A wine produced in the township of Sanlúcar
de Barrameda; very pale, very dry, with an alcohol
content of 15-17%. The Montilla-Moriles wines come
from the Province of Córdoba and, like their
neighbors of Jerez, are unmistakable, dry, very fragrant
and have high alcohol content. Finally, there are the
Moscatels from Málaga, which are warm to the
taste and very dark coloured. They are sold under different
names: Málaga, Málaga Virgen, Lácrima
Christi, Pedro Ximenez and Moscatel.
THE EAST COAST
This region includes the following Denominaciones de
Origin: Alicante, Valencia, Jumilia, Utiel-Requena
and Yecla, which cover quite different wines. Those
from Alicante are reds and rosés with a high
alcohol content of between 12 and 16%. Those from Valencia
are usually white, dry and very fresh. The Jumilia
wines from this Murcia area are easy to distinguish
because they are aged in oak barrels, although there
are also young wines. In both cases the alcohol content
is very high, and they are dark red and thick. Yecla
has reds, rosés and light reds with between
13 and 15% alcohol and a very pleasant mild taste.
Article © 2002-2006, Spain
Tourism
|
