Rioja
Foreign Today we’re going to have a closer look at the northern Spanish premier region of Lara larioca actually consists of three sub-regions the first Rioja Alta is in the higher western part of the region centered around the town of arrow and a lot of The Vineyards are quite large in size
The wines of Rioja Alta tend to have great balance and some of the Premier names in spanish winemaking are based here the smallest part of your Israel which is actually the Basque part Oliver is one of the Basque provinces the soils in Rioja alavesa tend to be poorer and the
Yields are lower producing wines with good acidity and Fuller body the southernmost and largest area is known as riohabaha or these days it’s Rioja Oriental it tends to be lower lying and flatter and it’s in the warmer part of the region so it produces wines with more ripeness and power but a
Little less Elegance than wines made in the other regions in Rioja the primary grave in the region is tempranillo planted in either Bush Vine or sometimes in row but there’s also quite a lot of Ganesha and white varieties Vera and malvasia Wines in rioca classically have been
Produced according to a set of very rigid set of rules and also the labeling reflects this it’s effectively a production pyramid if you look at the base of the pyramid this is the bulk wine it’s the biggest amount that’s produced and it’s basically vinified in stainless steel and put out
Into the market as soon as it’s ready resulting in a very fresh fruity wine that’s often drunk cold at lunchtime if you move a little further up the pyramid you have creantha wine creantha means Oak in Spanish now creantha wine has to be in barrel for at least a year
And then have at least a Year’s bottle aging before it can be released to the market if you’re a little bit further up the pyramid smaller quantity but better quality you get to the reserver level wines now Reserva again has to have at least one year in Barrel but it also has
To have at least two years in Bottle before it can be released so a current vintage reserver could be four or five years old the Wine’s production process also dictates the amount of Cellar aging that it will benefit from a creanther is designed to be drunk on release or for
Two or three years afterwards whereas a reservo wine can be drunk for many many years continues to improve for 20 to 30 years in some cases the boundaries get pushed even further in the grand reserver wines which have even longer in both barrel and bottle these days a lot
Of wine produced in Rioja is what’s known as modern Rioja which is not adhering to these strict principles often the best wine that is produced by a winery can be a modern Rioja made with the best grapes but it might only have six months an oak because this allows
The full expression of the wine to come through one of the most notable effect of these processes is the huge amount of wine that is stored in Rioja in any one time go into a new winery not only do you see a huge number of barrels but you
Also see many bottle cages such as these containing the bottles of cranther and Reserva that are aging over time and if all the production in Rioja stop tomorrow Rojo would be able to continue to supply the world for many many years with the back vintage stocks that it currently has in the wineries
There are two main towns in the Rioja region arrow in Rioja Alta builds itself as the wine capital of Rioja and in the more southern part of Rioja Alta is the town of La Grano which is the the biggest town in the region in contrast there are many small very old towns and
Hilltop Villages dotted throughout the landscape this one here is a village of el ciego and it’s home to the Marquis De riskal Hotel a very distinctive building that was designed by Frank Geary the Canadian architect who was also responsible for the most amazing design of the Guggenheim Museum here in Bilbao
These medieval towns are also in complete contrast to some of the amazing modern designs of wineries that now dock the landscape alongside some structures hundreds of years old such as the essios winery near the town of LaGuardia and Rioja alabesa Topography of The Vineyards throughout Rioja is also quite varied many cases
Particularly in Rioja elevation there are little small plots such as these where microclimates dictate quite different characteristics in the wine in many cases these areas may be very very small and and well under one hectare and so as a result you can get many different flavors from a number of different
Vineyards which makes a big difference when it comes to blending the final wine The Vines themselves are also quite varied the planting can be Bush Vine can be in rows can be a combination of the two soil types are also highly variable as you can see in these shots in Rioja Alta
Taken in springtime there is a large amount of change in color in the soils within these particular Vineyards combine that with the Rolling Hills flatter areas and that kind of thing and you get again more variation in the grapes that are produced this finite here is a great example of
The sedimentation that occurred over Millennia and you can also see if you look at the ground here in the foreground quite rocky area in contrast to the clay further up the vineyard and this is a result of this sedimentation and in lots of contrast to the more clay
Soils that we were looking at in a couple of frames ago the whole region is in the Lee of the cantabrigo mountain range particularly the areas of Alta and alavesa and this is has a major effect on the climate in Rioja and also the wines that are
Produced because it’s in the Lee of the mountains it’s a lot warmer on than on the other side particularly due to the fern wind effect of the wind blowing over the range as you can see in this shot of Vineyard here the little Stone shelter are provided for the workers historically
Particularly to get out of the hot sun in the middle of the day because the heat can be intense the effect of the Contemporary Co range which runs for us across Spain can also be seen in the cloud formations you get some incredible clouds and one of the
Major risks in summer is the buildup of large thunderstorms which can cause huge amount of damage to the grapes and The Vineyards so that’s a brief overview of the Rioja region with its fantastic wines its incredible Landscapes it’s huge contrast between classical and modern in both the architecture and the wines
And it really is one of the most fantastic areas in Spain both for wine and just in general you want to buy Rio Hawaiian or any of our wines then go to our website redbridgeonline.co.nz thank you
The premium Spanish region of La Rioja, located in the north of the country, is where it all started for Red Bridge’s wine importing in 2012. In this episode we look at it in a little more detail.