SUB-ZERO WINE BLOG

Most people who know Spanish wine at all probably know Rioja. The region stretches for about 75 miles eastward along the Ebro River in north central Spain, and the vineyards are at an average elevation of around 1500 feet. The workhorse grape here is the red variety Tempranillo, sometimes with the addition of Garnacha (grenache), Graciano, and Mazuelo for complexity. These wines are notoriously meaty and leathery in their youth but as they mature they become velvety on the palate. The wines are usually aged in American rather than French oak, which imparts a strong note of wood.

Rioja has some of the strictest standards in the world for barrel and bottle aging, assuring that these wines will be ready to drink when purchased. In increasing order of their age at release, Riojas are labeled crianza (or criança), reserva, and gran reserva. Although Rioja was long known as one of the world’s most hide-bound wine regions, where things changed little over the centuries, Rioja did begin a major revitalization a couple of decades ago. Rioja producers worked on modernizing their facilities and improving their techniques of production and the hygiene of their facilities, putting the “new Rioja” at the forefront of quality in Spanish wine. Older cellars in Rioja, such as the infamously picturesque (and moldy) one at Via La Tondonia in the town of Haro, now stand cheek-by-jowl with spanking new facilities such as the RODA winery. This contrast sums up the situation in Rioja, where tradition meets the modern world.