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The Ysios winery in Laguardia
The modern face of Rioja For all the gains made by regions elsewhere in the country, Ribera del Duero and Rioja remain Spain’s most recognised wine regions. David Williams explores the latest developments in both places and picks out some of his favourite wines and producers
T
he past five years have been
transformative for Rioja. The era starts in 2017 when, after years
of discussion – of lobbying and counterlobbying – the Rioja Consejo approved two new categories, both of which
acknowledged the changing realities
and fashions in the region and the wider winemaking world.
The first, and most important, of those
categories, Viñedo Singular, was all
about acknowledging the thirst of both
winemakers and high-end wine consumers for wines with a sense of place by officially recognising some of Rioja’s best vineyards and the wines that come from them.
VS was about terroir. But it was about
quality, too, and the barrier for entry for
THE WINE MERCHANT february 2022 46
qualifying as a single vineyard was set
high: the vineyard had to be more than 35 years old, to have yields that are naturally
low (less than 5,000kg per hectare for reds and 6,922kg per hectare for whites), to be farmed with “environmentally friendly”
growing practices, and to be harvested by hand.
The wines from those vineyards,
meanwhile, had to go through a two-stage evaluation by a panel of tasters – once
just after they’d been made and once as
they were about to go on sale – to earn the official Viñedo Singular stamp. With 84
sites initially approved (and a further 20
since, taking the number of Viñedo Singular sites above 100), the category was met
with the approval of Rioja’s terroiristes,
