But Spain has a long and proud winegrowing history that dates back more than 2,000 years. Especially in the Rioja region, which is in north-central Spain, near Pomplona.

During the Roman Empire, centurions from the 4th Legion who graduated with honors achieving victories for the Emperor were awarded plots of land in Rioja’s Villar de Anerdo, which then became known as Campus Veteranus. Over time, this evolved into Campo Viejo, or “the old camp”.

When they arrived, they found that local tribespeople, whom they called the Celtiberi, already were cultivating vineyards of a local grape, the temperanillo (from the Spanish “temprano”, or “early”, referrring to the grapes ability to be harvested earlier than other varietals). While the locals had been making wine in a crude manner, the Romans tutored them in advanced winemaking techniques.

Over time, temperanillo wines became an important part of the region’s economy. By the 1860s, a local nobleman – Camilo Hurtado de Amezaga, the Marques de Riscal de Alegre – returned from studying in Bordeaux armed with the newest ideas in winemaking. He and another local nobleman, the Marques de Murrieta, began planting Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes from vinestock imported from France and produced wines in what was then the Bordeaux style.

Other local winemakers, unable to get hold of the imported grapes, were introduced to the new processes by the aristocrat winemakers. They discovered, to their great surprise, that the local grapes they had been working with for years — especially temperanillo — responded extremely well to the new methods, with or without the other, more expensive, grapes.

At the same time, on the other side of the Pyrennees Mountains in France, the phylloxera infestaton was devastating nearly all of the French vineyards. Desperate to provide wine for their French customers, negociants from Aquataine and elsewhere came to Spain to find wines to buy. They were delighted to discover that Rioja’s newly developed wine industry was utilizing French winemaking methods and were available so close to home.

Rioja wines flourished and — for a short time, at least — Spain was no longer the ugly stepsister but the belle of the wine ball.

Campo Viejo is the largest wine company in Rioja and one of the few big enough to export its wines to the US and elsewhere. Founded in 1963, the bodega (Spanish winehouses are called “bodegas”, just as French are called “chateaus”), grows most of its own temperanillo grapes on an enormous vineyard that encompasses more than 1,260 acres.

In 2001, the bodega opened an architecturally-stunning state-of-the-art winery that follows the principles of sustainable agriculture and has won awards for being one of the first “green” wineries anywhere.

At $6.79/bottle, this particular Campo Viejo Temperanillo is certainly affordable and it’s flavor is fine, if a little bitter for my taste. It has a strong black cherry flavor, with hints of blackberry, strawberry, spice and vanilla.

Like the French wine regions, Rioja has extremely strict winemaking laws. This is a very young wine, having spent only four months oak barrels and even less time in the bottle. In order for wines to graduate to the “Crianza” status, they must spend at least a year in the barrel and another year in the bottle. This wine would benefit from a little more aging to smooth out its rough spots. But then, of course, it would cost much more.

While Campo Viejo Temperanillo has a lot of history in the bottle, in the end I think it needs just a little more time.

The 2011 vintage is ranked at the same level as the 1994 and 2004 vintages

DOC Rioja’s Regulating Council has given the 2011 vintage the official ranking of ‘Excellent’ following a rigorous analysis and tasting process of almost 4,000 samples representing the 277.3 million litres of wine made from the year’s grape harvest. The results reveal that the 2011 vintage is one of the top 3 vintages, together with 1994 and 2004, which boast the highest rated analytical parameters of the past three decades, the period when the appellation first implemented the current quality control system which it submits its new wines to every year.

The 2011 harvest was hardly hit by plagues and disease during the season, maintaining optimum growth and sanitary conditions throughout, despite the difficulties posed by the drought in some regions, which contributed to the exceptional vigour of the grapes harvested last year. All of which has given rise to extremely well structured wines boasting excellent colour and sanitary conditions, which augurs well for future premium wines.

The 3,987 samples were analysed in one of the appellation’s three Oenological Research Stations and rated by three of the tasters which form part of the Regulating Council’s panel of external tasters. Having passed the quality controls, a total of 266.4 million litres of wine were rated; 99.3 per cent of the total volume produced. A figure which has gradually increased over the years and bears witness to the continuous improvement in quality of the wines produced under the appellation, despite the more exacting requirements set up to give an overall rating to every vintage.

BUY RIOJA WINES CLICK HERE…

Wines from Rioja

The US, the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Mexico and China are the countries where DOC Rioja is targeting its investment activities in 2012 with the aim of strengthening its presence on its most important markets in view of the excellent results registered in export sales in 2011; 92 million litres of wine, 7 per cent more than in 2010. And also taking into account the recognition and prestige acquired by the region having been named the best wine region of the year in the US and awarded three accolades for its initiative, Tapas Fantásticas as the best marketing event of the year. As regards the actual amount to be invested by country, the almost ¬3 million targeted at the US takes the lions share of the total allocated budget owing to the fact that the US market is currently seen as having the highest growth potential. In addition, the investment in the US together with the investment targeted at Mexico (¬685,279), Switzerland (¬586,535) and China (¬549,142) will be co-financed by funds from the wine CMO, given its focus on non-EU countries, which means that DOC Rioja will receive ¬2.35 million from the organisations funds to help finance its venture.

The UK, Riojas number one wine importer with an impressive 33 per cent of total exports, is the country targeted with the second largest investment figure, almost ¬1.2 million. Germany with ¬300,121 and Sweden with ¬168,150 complete the list of international markets. Spanish, on the other hand, which corners 70 per cent of Riojas wine sales,
will boast a marketing budget of ¬985,000 in 2012.

In reference to the activities which have been programmed, in the US, where the web-based social shopping experience, Snooth.com recently recognised Rioja as the Wine
Region of the Year 2011 , the campaign will be based on a comprehensive point of sales marketing program, with the aim of generating greater visibility for the Rioja brand
name in the foodstuffs and hospitality sectors.

The activities will be targeted at New York, Florida, Chicago, California and Texas, while in Miami an important event will be organised on 30th April targeted at trade professionals and consumers. The appellation also plans to carry out an online publicity campaign as well as wine tastings.

In the UK the highlight of the marketing campaign will be the 5th edition of the successful wine festival Rioja Tapas Fantásticas, which has been awarded three important accolades as the best marketing event of the year in the UK by the International Wine & Spirits Competition, and The Drinks Business magazine.

In China the1st Grand Tasting of Rioja Wines was organised earlier this year in the cities of Hong Kong and Shanghai as well as an event to mark the Chinese New Year.

And lastly, one of the most interesting activities programmed within the marketing plans for each country is the organisation of trips for journalists and buyers to La Rioja, owing
to the outstanding results this type of initiative has had in the recent past. The aim is for visitors to discover, first-hand and in situ, the colossal evolution undergone by the
appellation in recent years.

2005 Vinedos de Paganos El Puntido

2005 Vinedos de Paganos El Puntido

REGION
Rioja, Spain

VARIETAL
Tempranillo

Save 35% OFF HERE

“Our wine of the year in 2007 (the ’04 El Puntido) is back with a vengeance in the 2005 vintage. This is a deep-fruited modern specimen with that elusive mix of floral, fruit and meaty characteristics. The palate is ripe and everlasting, with berry, coffee and hickory flavors. Long and calm on the finish, with amazing texture. An excellent encore to the prior year’s achievement.”

95 Points - Wine Enthusiast

In many ways, it wasn’t a discussion as much as a series of comments around the theme of how Rioja should present itself to the world, and more importantly, how it might go about offering a broader range of wines to consumers.

[for more professional reporting on this event, read Rebecca Gibb's take]

The key fact, in terms of the topic, is that Tempranillo plantings represent 78% of ALL vineyard plantings in Rioja. Without any Tempranillo, you’d scarcely have enough for a decent dinner party, never mind to sell wines to the entire world as happens now.

The question was really interpreted as whether Rioja should attach its brand more clearly to the Tempranillo varietal/brand or not.

The strongest argument for this idea came from Maria Martínez from Bodegas Montecillo, known as the “Queen of Tempranillo”. In her opinion Tempranillo was THE vehicle for expressing the personality of Rioja, and by this I take her to mean her sense of its place, its terroir. She admitted that many other regions, and even countries, could grow Tempranillo, but the unique mix of weather, soil and historical wine making practices in Rioja gave it a real personality, whilst most other wines turned out to be “manufactured”, “Coca Cola” wines. I admire her conviction, and her wines.

However, what she is discussing is more than the varietal mix of the wine. She did not argue against using other classic grapes to blend with Tempranillo, only that it should have “personality”. Rioja’s strong, and much loved personality, is what consumers around the world love.

Follow-up presentations by Juan Carlos Sancha of Viña Ijalba and Victor Fuentes of Baron de Ley, were ostensibly a counter-argument, but in fact followed the same theme. Rioja used to grow a variety of grapes, in 1912 there were 44, but today there are only 7 – and in the case of Tempranillo, only 3 different clones. This means that the region is HIGHLY dependent on a small range of varieties, that it has lost (permanently through extinction in many cases) many indigenous varieties. It wasn’t an argument for making Rioja from something other than Tempranillo, but a plea for experimentation, to genetic diversity, to a uniqueness for Rioja that was defined by something more abstract than a single variety.

There are producers such as Dinastia Vivanco and Viña Ijalba who are trying to showcase the personality of each of the key Rioja grapes, and examples such as Baron de Ley who are even planting 28 hectares of a newly approved, but classic indigenous grape called Maturana Tinta.

Most of the assembled audience agreed that Rioja risked more by linking itself to Tempranillo than it gained – opening the doors to copycat regions selling similar grapes, confusing consumers who only have limited wine knowledge, and not doing anything to sell more white or rose wines.

The only real point of contention seemed to revolve around price. A representative from an importer with a focus on supermarket brands, and Melissa Draycott, head of wine buying at First Quench, pointed out that consumers loved Rioja and only really wanted a good Quality/Price ratio. Rioja had delivered in the past and should focus on this for the future.

The implication of this is that all the discussion of “Personality”, of genetic diversity and of new plantings of recovered indigenous or international varieties was likely to lead to more high priced, premium wines and distract from the business of selling more volume. I will look at this is depth another time as I think it is important, but most of the audience agreed that Rioja needed to be more than a provider of generic “soap bars” (comparing wine marketing to the success of P&G etc.).

All in all, it was good to have the opportunity to hear from some interesting Rioja personalities, and to taste their wines. Hopefully we can use these discussions to define a clearer path for Rioja to innovate without losing its special place in the consumer’s hearts and wallets.

More soon.

————

The full list of speakers was: Ricardo Aguiriano, Marketing Director for the Rioja Consejo; Maria Martínez from Bodegas Montecillo; Juan Carlos Sancha of Viña Ijalba; Victor Fuentes, Managing Director at Baron de Ley; and Melissa Draycott, Thresher. Rafael Vivanco from Dinastia Vivanco was supposed to join them but was unfortunately unable to attend.

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• The Countess of Montecillo (89project.blogspot.com)
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• The Ten Year ‘Sweet Spot’?: Rioja Gran Reserva from the 1990s and the Question of Age (blameitonrioja.com)
• Dinastia Vivanco on video (thirstforrioja.co.uk)

Wines from Rioja is sponsoring a campaign through regional newspapers in Bristol, Birmingham, Nottingham and in Scotland. You collect tokens in these newspapers and get a chance to go out for a two course dinner, including a glass of Rioja, for only £10.

The way Duty is going these days, it can’t be long before the glass of wine alone will cost you that much, so it sounds like a good deal to me. Couple that with an economy in need of a little TLC, and this sounds like a very good deal.

I’m guessing that each restaurant is offering their own Rioja in the promotion, so I can’t suggest any one in particular, but it seems like an offer worth checking out. You can read more about the offer and how long it will be running in each newspaper/area on the Wines from Rioja site (and get a bonus token).

If you come across a great restaurant, or a particularly good wine, do let us know.

I was reviewing the useful site built for UK consumers at Wines from Rioja (www.winesfromrioja.co.uk) and I saw this comment on the Rioja Rocks article:

And the region itself is a blast! I remember visiting the winery at Dinastia Vivanco in Rioja Alta, I was knocked out by the collision of tradition with the state of the art winery that had been built underneath the vineyards like some giant Batcave with oodles of sexy kit and state of the art techniques. But it’s not just the wineries that are breathing modernity into this traditional wine region, there’s an increasing attention to detail in the vineyard to ensure the unique local grapes of the region.

Not only is it great to get that sort of endorsement for the Dinastia Vivanco wines, but great to see that someone as influential as Olly really gets what the whole region is doing. Rioja is often perceived as the “very traditional” region that “everyone knows” and is therefore skipped over in favour of something new and trendy, but there are all sorts of innovations happening here too, and the money and determination to make it happen.

I’m going to be organising a small series of tastings on this site in the near future, and will also be sending out reviews by twitter (it is all the rage, after all). If you are interested in seeing why Rioja Rocks, sign up to follow me on twitter, and also sign up to receive my email alerts here so I can get you interesting information and offers on Rioja wines.