12 Things You Never Knew About Rioja

clear wine glass beside bottle on brown wooden table

clear wine glass beside bottle on brown wooden table

With the value of Rioja in the UK up 17.9% in 2020, the Spanish wine really has secured its place as one of the nation’s favourite drinks. But how much do you actually know about Spain’s premier wine producing region and the drinks it produces? Belle’s here to tell you more with a little help from from Rocio Muñoz Marín of Bodegas Faustino – the premier Rioja brand…  

  1. “Tempranillo” is the most widely planted red grape in Spain and it is originally from Spain.
  2. The word “tempranillo” comes from the word “temprano” (translates to Early in Spanish) because this varietal ripens early and is one of the first to be harvested.
  3. Only 225liter barriques are allowed to be used for aging the wines in the DOCaRioja? This size has proved to be the most suitable for the wines produced there.
  4. Rioja is a DOCa (Denominacion de Origen Calificada), which means that wineries have to follow stricter rules when growing the vines and elaborating the wines to guarantee high quality compared to other appellations of origin which are DO (Denominacion de Origen).
  5. Bodegas Faustino only produces “gran reserva” wines when the harvest has been “excellent”? Other wineries produce gran reserva every year, not skipping vintages.
  6. Tempranillo grapes are normally blended with graciano and mazuelo when producing reserva and gran reserva wines as these bring extra acidity and “back-bone” to the wine which allows it to age better and longer.
  7. The first export country of Rioja wines is the UK.
  8. Rioja is the Spanish Denominacion de Origen that exports the most wine out of the country.
  9. In order to be DOCaRioja the wine has to be not only produced but also bottled within the region. Not all DOs or wine regions require this; many wines in the word are transported in bulk and bottled in bottling plants in other countries. In Rioja there is total control.
  10. Every Rioja bottle has a unique serial number on its seal of quality that guarantees total traceability back to the grapes in a particular vineyard used to produce that single bottle.
  11. Rioja is the oldest DO in Spain (together with Jerez, in 1925)? As a DO (with a control board to guarantee the quality of their fine wines), not a producing region as wine has been produced in Rioja for over 2000 years, since Roman times…
  12. You can tell how long the wine has been aging in oak by the DO seal below the backlabel: crianza means at least 2 years aging (of which min 6 months in oak and the rest in the bottle before being allowed to launch it into the market), reserva (total of 36 months of which at least 12 in oak and 6 in the bottle) and gran reserva a total of 6 years of which 2 at least in oak.

Cheers!

  • Emily Cleary

    After almost a decade chasing ambulances, and celebrities, for Fleet Street's finest, Emily has taken it down a gear and settled for a (slightly!) slower pace of life in the suburbs. With a love of cheese and fine wine, Emily is more likely to be found chasing her toddlers round Kew Gardens than sipping champagne at a showbiz launch nowadays, or grabbing an hour out of her hectic freelancer's life to chill out in a spa while hubby holds the babies. If only!

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