Rioja’s Reds
Vintage image sourced on Pinterest
Some of the wildest tasting notes I’ve ever taken are from Rioja’s Reds. It’s a region that’s as famous and historic as any in the world, yet somehow frequently under-valued…which means you can find insane prices on some stunners. One of the misperceptions that affects Rioja’s popularity is that its aging classification system, with the Crianza, Reserva, and Gran Reserva categories, is the primary - and sometimes only - way to understand its wines.
I’ve taken an alternative approach in this tasting, focusing instead on the two factors that have the most impact what you’re tasting in the glass:
Location, location, location
How the wine is made
Stuff to know
Rioja will celebrate its 100th anniversary as an officially designated wine region next year, as Spain’s oldest Denominación de Origen, though winemaking in the region has been practiced since Phoenicians, then Romans cultivated vines way back in the BC years.
Tempranillo is Rioja’s signature grape, and must make up at least 75% of all of its red wines. There are plenty of blending partners though, with the top 4 being Garnacha, Graciano, Mazuelo, and Maturana tinta, and small amounts of other grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon are allowed too. White grape varieties are also allowed to be blended into the red wines in small amounts, just like Viognier is sometimes added to Syrah in the Côte-Rôtie.
Location, Location, Location
Rioja is a really big region in northern Spain, stretching 62 miles (100 km) from end to end, winding from northwest to the southeast along with the Ebro river, which is surrounded by multiple mountain systems and has smaller valleys carved by its tributaries as it heads toward the Mediterranean Sea. There is a huge range of microclimates in Rioja, since vineyard altitudes can reach as high as 2,950 feet (900m) or lie low in portions where floodplains flatten the lands around the Ebro, flush with alluvial stones and sand. Weather patterns and sunshine hours change dramatically along the way, going from a cooler, wetter Atlantic climate in the north to a warmer, drier Mediterranean one in the south. Soils, too, range widely, though winemakers generally discuss 3 primary types: calcareous-clay soils (or limestone), clay-ferrous soils with more iron content, and alluvial soils, created from river sediment.
While it’s impossible to capture all of this variation simply, Rioja has 3 defined sub-regions: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental. Rioja Alta and Rioja Oriental are similarly sized, while Rioja Alavesa is quite a bit smaller. Some wine experts have suggested that Rioja would be better served by creating 7 sub-regions, one for each of the river valleys created by the Ebro’s tributaries. Others have suggested that Rioja should promote its region more like Burgundy or Barolo, where villages, each with their own distinctive characteristics, are more or less well-known and prestigious. Either way, in this tasting, the first 3 wines will be selected from the 3 sub-regions to give you a sense of how they differ stylistically, since the place a wine is from will tell you more about what it might taste like even than the methods used to create it.
How the wine is made
Rioja is best-known for its “traditional” wines, aged for long periods of time in 225-liter barrels, specifically American oak barrels. This circumstance is partly due to Bordeaux’s historical influence on Rioja, a region where 225-liter French oak barrels are commonly used to age top wines. It’s also thanks to Spain’s relationship with the Americas, once a territory filled with missionaries and conquistadors, from which oak was more cheaply purchased and shipped transatlantically than neighboring French oak. There are plenty of producers who still adhere to these specific aging practices, but the reality is that there’s a broad spectrum of wine styles and winemaking practices, before and after any oak aging.
It could be argued that whole bunch fermentation is more traditional than destemmed grapes in Rioja. It could be argued that French staves and American heads on the same oak barrels is equally as traditional as using 100% American oak. It could be argued that using only French oak is traditional, too. You get the idea. The “modernists” are just as varied, from 100% French oak aging to cement or amphora fermentation and aging. Some bodegas in Rioja make both “traditional” and “modern” wines, like Marqués de Riscal, Muga and Marqués de Murrieta. How the wine is made and aged will of course impact how the wine tastes, so the second 3 wines in this tasting will explore the spectrum from its extremes.
What to look for in this tasting
Rioja’s reds are usually medium-bodied, but they can occasionally be full-bodied too, with chalky tannins that wipe across the inside of your cheeks behind velvety fruit flavors. The coolest thing about Rioja’s reds, in my opinion, is the wild range of flavors that can come out with age. Younger Rioja wines tend to showcase dried strawberries, sour cherries, leather and the occasional hint of soy sauce or teriyaki. In older Riojas, I’ve tasted fresh dill, pickles, hoisin sauce and sweet tobacco leaves in wild rides of scents and flavors that are impossible to forget. There’s a sweet and sour quality to most Riojas that is as addictive as the sauce.
Rioja’s reds are generally paler-colored than you might think, though there are darker exceptions. Alcohol levels have historically been moderate, around 12-13.5% abv, though warmer vintages in recent years and different blending practices mean that some wines can reach 14% abv.
The wines
#1: Rioja Alta
Rioja Alta is Rioja’s largest zone, and contains the majority of Rioja’s most historic wineries, many concentrated around Haro, its most famous village. This makes Rioja Alta a popular region for tourism, since Haro alone is practically one-stop shop when it comes to checking off prestigious wineries in Rioja. Rioja Alta is much bigger than Haro would leave one to believe though, and many wineries source grapes from all over the region.
Rioja Alta lies northwest within the region, and its vineyards reach some of the highest heights in Rioja, with plantings up to 2,625 feet (800m) on the slopes of the Sierra de Cantabria. Most of the soils here are either whitish-grey calcareous-clay (limestone) or clay-ferrous, reddish with iron. The cooler Atlantic influence is stronger here, and when combined with higher altitudes and calcareous-clay soils, grapes tend to ripen late, with moderately ripe fruit, higher acidity levels and extensive aging potential. Some of Rioja Alta’s best-known wineries include R. López de Heredia - Viña Tondonia, La Rioja Alta, Marqués de Murrieta, Muga, CVNE and Roda.
What to ask for: Ask for a Rioja wine from Rioja Alta. The bottle won’t necessarily tell you that the wine is from this sub-region, so you can search online (like on the Consejo Regulador DOCa Rioja’s website, where all wineries in Rioja Alta are listed here), or ask your local retailer. Some producers blend their wines across sub-regions to minimize vintage variation. If at all possible, avoid these wines for this tasting.
If the wine is a Viñedos Singulares, the Consejo Regulador DOCa Rioja provides a list of all Vinẽdos Singulares with their respective “Zona” (sub-zone) that you can check against here.
If the wine is a Vino de Municipio, you can search here to check which zone the municipality lies within.
Alternative(s): Stick with a red wine from Rioja Alta with any amount of aging.
#2: Rioja Alavesa
Rioja Alavesa is the smallest of the 3 sub-regions, but it is in no way lesser. It lies northernmost and east of Rioja Alta, more toward Basque country, and is more impacted by the Atlantic climate, with cooler temperatures and more humidity year-round. When visiting Rioja Alavesa, packing a waterproof jacket might be a good idea. Almost all of the vineyards here are terraced on calcareous-clay (limestone) soils, and the wines are known for their lightness, fruit purity, abundant aromas and plenty of aging potential. Tempranillo makes up the majority of plantings here, with less focus on the other blending grapes. Laguardia (the city, not the NY airport) is the capital of Rioja Alavesa, and some of its best-known wineries include Marqués de Riscal, Bodegas Ysios, Bodegas Eguren Ugarte and Viña Real.
What to ask for: Ask for a Rioja wine from Rioja Alavesa. The bottle won’t necessarily tell you that the wine is from this sub-region, so you can search online (like on the Consejo Regulador DOCa Rioja’s website, where all wineries in Rioja Alavesa are listed here), or ask your local retailer. Some producers blend their wines across sub-regions to minimize vintage variation. If at all possible, avoid these wines for this tasting.
If the wine is a Viñedos Singulares, the Consejo Regulador DOCa Rioja provides a list of all Vinẽdos Singulares with their respective “Zona” (sub-zone) that you can check against here.
If the wine is a Vino de Municipio, you can search here to check which zone the municipality lies within.
Alternative(s): Stick with a red wine from Rioja Alavesa with any amount of aging.
#3: Rioja Oriental
Rioja Oriental used to be called Rioja Baja. The name was changed in 2018, since “Baja” could be misconstrued to connote “low,” which was thought to have negative connotations about its wines’ quality. “Baja” was originally meant to indicate that the vineyards lie at lower altitudes than they do in Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa, but producers succeeded in changing the name to Rioja Oriental after years of feeling like the red-headed stepchild of Rioja, even though the sub-region is nearly as large as Rioja Alta.
While Tempranillo still reigns supreme, Garnacha plantings go up significantly in Rioja Oriental, since it lies furthest south and east toward the Mediterranean, where late-ripening Garnacha thrives in drier soils and toasty sunshine, and where it’s also easier to grow grapes organically. It’s so much hotter and drier that irrigation is allowed in parts of Rioja Oriental, but not in the other 2 sub-regions. The vineyards here tend to be planted on lower-lying, flatter lands, with more alluvial soils. Garnacha isn’t known for contributing high acidity to blends, since its grapes tend to have a lot of sugar in them once ripe. Sugar turns into alcohol thanks to fermentation, so these wines also tend to have higher alcohol levels than wines from Rioja Alta or Rioja Alavesa. These wines can be rich, full-bodied wines with riper fruit flavors, though not all of them are great for long aging. Many producers source grapes from Rioja Oriental to blend with grapes from the other two regions to create wines that showcase ripe fruit even in cooler vintages.
Logroño is the capital of Rioja Oriental and some of its best-known wineries include Baron de Ley, Palacios Remondo and Ortega Ezquerro.
What to ask for: Ask for a Rioja wine from Rioja Oriental (formerly Baja). The bottle won’t necessarily tell you that the wine is from this sub-region, so you can search online (like on the Consejo Regulador DOCa Rioja’s website, where all wineries in Rioja Oriental are listed here), or ask your local retailer. Some producers blend their wines across sub-regions to minimize vintage variation. If at all possible, avoid these wines for this tasting.
If the wine is a Viñedos Singulares, the Consejo Regulador DOCa Rioja provides a list of all Vinẽdos Singulares with their respective “Zona” (sub-zone) that you can check against here.
If the wine is a Vino de Municipio, you can search here to check which zone the municipality lies within.
Alternative(s): Stick with a red wine from Rioja Oriental with any amount of aging.
#4: Traditional Rioja
While what is truly “traditional” can be debated in Rioja, for this tasting, look for a wine that is aged in American oak barrels, then in bottles, ideally for a lengthy period of time. Reserva and Gran Reserva styles from traditional bodegas will fit the bill nicely. These are wines that are aged for long periods at the bodega, so that they’re ready to drink upon release. Think of it like the winery is paying for the cellar storage for you, just like in Champagne, minus the correspondingly high prices.
There are “traditionalists” who use only French barrels or French staves and American heads on barrels, and while I’m not arguing whether or not those practices are also traditional, the goal for this tasting is to taste the extremes, so American oak is preferred here. That said, if the wine you select uses a blend of predominantly old American with some French oak barrels, as many wineries do, it could still work.
These wines are often paler in color, with higher levels of acidity and lower levels of alcohol. The oak influence is usually subtler than you might think. They are often, though not always, blends of grapes from different vineyards and sometimes sub-regions.
What to ask for: Ask for a traditional Rioja, preferably with long barrel and bottle aging, ideally in Amerian oak. Some of the producers who offer traditional wines in their assortments include: La Rioja Alta, R. López de Heredia - Viña Tondonia, Hermanos Peciña, Marqués de Murrieta, CVNE and Marqués de Riscal.
Alternative(s): Stick with a traditional Rioja
#5: Modern-Traditionalist Rioja
Since “modern” and “traditional” exist on a continuum, there are many winemakers in Rioja who choose something in between. Some of the wines in this category will lean more toward traditional methods, others adopt practices that aren’t even considered “modern,” per se, like using cement tanks or amphoras for fermentation and/or aging. Winemakers who use American and/or French oak could also fit into this category.
The intent here is to look for wineries who focus first and foremost on expressing their individual terroir, and then try to choose the winemaking methods that best fit their idea of what the grapes should express. Winemakers who choose to use organic or biodynamic farming methods will usually fit well here. Wineries that own their own vineyards are preferred, since they will usually be more focused on what those vineyards have to say, rather than blending from multiple vineyards or locations to achieve a particular style. These are often wines from distinctive places in Rioja, whether at high altitudes or with old vines or field blends. Some of these wines won’t fit neatly into any of the aging classifications of Crianza, Reserva or Gran Reserva, and may be sold as Genérico or under their own made-up names.
What to ask for: Ask for a Rioja that is terroir-driven and not necessarily either “traditional” or “modern.” Some of the producers who offer wines like this in their assortments include Artuke, Bodega Lanzaga, Bideona, Jose Gil, Barbarot, Exopto, Bodegas Bhilar, Tentenublo, Miguel Merino and Valenciso.
Alternative(s): Stick with a terroir-driven modern-traditionalist Rioja
#6: Modern Rioja
The term “modern” is up for just as much debate as “traditional,” but the way we will use it here is in contrast to “traditional,” describing winemakers who aim for riper grapes, newer barrels, longer macerations and shorter aging periods to try to achieve darker-hued wines with higher alcohol levels, more body and powerful, ripe fruit. Think of “modern” here in the way it was often applied when Robert Parker-style wines reigned supreme. These winemakers will usually use French oak, often toasted and new, and the wines aren’t always totally ready to drink upon release.
Terms like Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva are sometimes used by winemakers who make these styles of Rioja, sometimes not. The wines can just as easily be sold as Genérico or under their own made-up names. The winemakers of these styles of Rioja may be terroir-focused too, using grapes from a single site or village, but the way they choose to make the wines is what determines whether or not they fit here.
What to ask for: Ask for a Rioja that is “modern,” with higher extraction and new French oak aging. Some of the producers who offer wines like this in their assortments include Roda, Contador, Finca Allende, Sierra Cantabria, and Contino.
Alternative(s): Stick with a modern Rioja
Tasting tips
The eats
Rioja’s red wines are typically medium-bodied with chalky tannins and a fascinating mixture of umami and sweet and sour flavors that make them excellent pairing partners for bold flavors. In Rioja, traditional partners include dishes with lamb, pork, beans or potatoes with chorizo sausage and a local pepper, the pimiento riojano.
Pairings are in no way limited to the traditional Riojan cuisine though. One of my favorites for these wines is Tex-Mex. I grew up with a very Texan Dad who used to drive over to Chicago’s southwest side from our home, then in northern Indiana, to get proper supplies from the Mexican markets. It was the kind of home where there were always bunches of dried peppers hanging from the ceiling in the garage. Chili was made with chuck beef, not ground, and never with beans, and even the separate batch he made for us kids packed some heat. We grew up on quesadillas and nachos loaded with pickled jalepeños as after-school snacks, tacos and burritos for any meal and the occasional 7-layer dip. All of which would be delightful paired with Rioja’s reds.
If you go with the charcuterie approach, Spanish sheep’s milk cheeses like Manchego or Zamorano or some peppery Monterey Jack will go well with meats like chorizo, serrano ham or sobrasada. The rest of the board can be bold here too, with pimento peppers, green olives, spiced or Marcona almonds and those crunchy fried corn snacks.
The prep
It will be pretty easy to find Rioja wines, but finding the specific styles in this tasting is going to take a bit of work on the part of your guests, because most wine labels won’t tell you the information needed to select the styles included in this tasting. Instead, guests will need to either tap into the ol’ Internets or ask local retailers for help. Aim to give your guests at least two weeks to find their wines before the tasting, if not more. Just know that the extra effort is part of the learning process and is worth the reward.
Since we’re not categorizing by the Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva aging classifications, there will be a wide range of prices for all of these wines, so it’s up to you as the host to decide if you want to set a price range or let your guests determine what they’re each comfortable spending.
Rioja’s reds are best with a bit of chill, so please encourage your guests to give their wines some pre-tasting fridge time, or have an ice bucket ready for a quick dunk to reach cellar temperature. If you’ve never walked down into a winemaker’s cellar and felt the chill and damp, just think about what it feels like on a brisk autumn day. A bottle that’s cool to the touch, that’s the goal here.
Sources
Approved Grape Varieties | Consejo Regulador DOCa Rioja
