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A New Rioja

By Ricki-Lee Podolecki, DipWSET

Joven No Oak required, Made to Drink Young

Crianza One Year in Barrel, Two Years Total

Reserva One Year in Barrel, Three Years Total Gran Reserva Two Years in Barrel, Five Years Total

The former Rioja classification system for red wines was based solely on strict ageing categories.

One of the key things we learn when we study wine is that single vineyards offer something unique: each expresses how that site is special and rare enough that it can produce a quality wine. So it seems backward that Rioja’s strict rules have traditionally meant that that producers could get in trouble simply by putting their vineyard’s name on the label. That is, until now. Get ready: the rules have changed, and a new Rioja is about to emerge.

In 2018, the Spanish Consejo Regulador took the huge step of opening its classification system to single vineyards. Until then, Rioja’s wine quality had been based solely on a barrel and ageing system that allowed minimal information on the areas of production. This new Viñedo Singular system will lead to major changes within the region for red, white, rosé, and sparkling wines. Let me explain using red wines as an example.

In the old system, Rioja wineries could label their wine region by Rioja or one of its three official zones: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa, and Rioja Oriental (Baja originally)—but nothing more regionally specific. In conjunction with the zone, the levels of oak and bottle ageing were used on labels as a marker of quality and categorized as: Crianza, Reserva, and Gran Reserva. Sparkling wines were given the topquality designation Gran Añada.

The new law allows the more specific Viñedo Singular of superior quality to be labelled as such, though quite a few criteria must be met before a single vineyard is allowed into the “club.” Vines must be at least 35 years old, yields kept relatively low, and the wines need to pass a tasting panel. In addition, producers must prove they have owned the vineyard for 10 or more years! This change has been longawaited by many producers who value their vineyards and growers.

Telmo Rodriguez is one of these producers. The Lanzaga label has always been geared toward single vineyards, and Telmo was so eager to showcase this vineyard, he once got in trouble for including a specific village name on the label. When he visited Winnipeg in 2019, the winemaker explained why he bucked the former labelling system by refusing to include ageing details on his labels: “Putting my wine in barrels doesn’t mean that the fruit is quality. Oak is made to enhance a wine and doesn’t mean a wine is better than one with less oak.” This is why you will never see Joven or Gran Reserva placed on the Telmo Rodriguez brand.

Telmo Rodriguez’s Bodega Lanzaga La Estrada ($128.99), from a small vineyard of only 0.64 hectares, will now be able to showcase the uniqueness of its vineyard right on the label.

Not everybody is as taken with the change. Finca Valpiedra raised some concerns about how loose some of the regulations are, believing that guidelines for which vineyards meet the quality standards should be stricter (regardless of whether they pass all the other rules).

Jones & Company carries two of Finca Valpiedra’s single-vineyard wines—the 2012 Reserva ($53.99) and Cantos ($26.99). These intense and well-structured ageworthy wines come from the 80 hectares of vineyard owned by the winery—but you won’t be seeing that listed on the label!

When asked if they would be taking advantage of the newly instituted Viñedo Singular, Finca Valpiedra’s Diego Martinez told us: “Finca Valpiedra is a member of Grandes Pagos de España [the Great Single Vineyards of Spain association], and we would definitely be entitled to be in the Viñedos Singulares category. Our initial idea was to be, and the first ones to show, our single vineyards if possible! However, in our opinion, this new category has been too open with the idea that everyone can be part of it, and it is not interesting anymore. For us, it is all about where vineyards are and, if anyone can have a vineyard in that category [based on the requirements], we think that it loses the exclusivity and uniqueness of the idea.”

Change is difficult, and it will take time to polish the process so that both sides of the issue come together. A region like Burgundy, for example, has had centuries to establish wellmade wines from specific sites. Diego Martinez makes a good point that Spain needs to be more selective about the vineyards they let in, or it risks watering down the legitimacy of all of the approved wines. However, the new regulations will give producers who purchase their grapes from growers a chance to share the limelight and finally showcase the unique single vineyards of Rioja.

We will be taking a deeper dive into the implications of these new regulations on Rioja in the next Spanish Wine Scholar Course. 

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