D.O.Ca. Rioja
Anybody who knows that Spain produces wine has heard of Rioja wines. This region in central north Spain has been making wine since medieval times and, for a long time, was the country’s principal producer in terms of both quantity and quality. Although a Royal Decree was enacted in 1902 defining the origin of a Rioja, it was 1953 before the Denominación de Origen (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) finally became official. This was the first D.O. in the country with the extra classification of “Calificada”, awarded in 1991.
The D.O. Ca. Rioja extends over parts of three provinces: La Rioja, the correspond roughly to the areas known as La Rioja Alta, La Rioja Alavesa and La Rioja Baja. Due to their different climate conditions, Basque Country and Navarra. These these areas give rise to wines with different characteristics. The Rioja Alta is better known for wines that are suitable for ageing, the Rioja Alavesa produces both young wines and wines suitable for ageing and the Rioja Baja produces mostly white wines and rosés.
In 2006, 250 million litres of wine were produced in the Rioja. These were divided into 85% red wine and the rest white or rosé wine. The grape variety used for the red wine is predominantly tempranillo (over 60%) and viura (15%) is used for the whites.
Rioja wines are divided into different categories, which are based on minimum ageing periods:
- Guarantee of Origin: wines which have not undergone the “crianza” process.
- Vino de Crianza: wine in its third year, matured for at least one year in oak cask.
- Reserva: carefully selected wines, aged for at least three years, of which at least one is in oak cask.
- Gran Reserva: is for wines from great vintages which have been aged at least two years in oak cask and three years in bottle.
Approximately 180 million litres of Rioja wine are sold to the domestic market while the remaining 70 million litres are exported, in particular to the UK and Germany but also to the USA and Switzerland, as well as a host of other countries.