Rioja Flashcards
(109 cards)
Rioja DOCa
- Region
- Subzones
- Styles
- Grapes
- Aging
Rioja DOCa
- Region: La Rioja, Navarra, País Vasco
- Subzones: Rioja Alta (La Rioja & Castilla y León), Rioja Oriental-formerly Baja(Navarra), Rioja Alavesa (País Vasco)
- Styles Produced:
- Vino Espumoso de Calidad: Traditional Method Blanco or Rosado following the same assemblage requirements as still Blanco and Rosado wines.
- Blanco: 100% authorized white grapes
- Rosado: min. 25% combined authorized red grapes
- Tinto: min. 95% authorized red grapes (if destemmed), min. 85% authorized red grapes (if whole clusters or whole berries are used)
- Authorized Grapes:
- White Grapes: Viura, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Verdejo, Malvasía, Garnacha Blanca, Tempranillo Blanco, Maturana Blanca, Turruntés
- Red Grape: Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo, Graciano, Maturana Tinta
- Aging Requirements:
- Vino Espumoso de Calidad: min. 15 months on the lees from the date of tirage prior to disgorgement
- Vino Espumoso de Calidad Reserva: min. 24 months on the lees from the date of tirage prior to disgorgement
- Vino Espumoso de Calidad Gran Añada: min 36 months on the lees from the date of tirage prior to disgorgement.
- Crianza Blanco/Rosado: min. 18 months, including at least 6 months in oak (remainder may be in bottle, oak or stainless steel)
- Reserva Blanco/Rosado: min. 2 years, including at least 6 months in oak (remainder must be in bottle or oak)
- Gran Reserva Blanco/Rosado: min. 4 years, including at least 6 months in oak (remainder must be in bottle or oak)
- Crianza Tinto: min. 2 years, including at least 1 year in oak
- Reserva Tinto: min. 3 years, including at least 1 year in oak and 6 months in bottle
- Gran Reserva Tinto: min. 60 months of aging with at least 24 months in oak and at least 24 months in bottle
Whare the requirements for Vino Espumoso de Calidad?
- Traditional Method
- Only manual harvesting
- The entire process from the primary fermentation to the labeling post disgorgement before release must take place in the same location. The wine may not be relocated or transported at any time.
- No additions, coloring or filtration at any point throughout the production
- Transfer method is approved for bottle sizes smaller than 750 ml and larger than 3 L
- Vino Espumoso de Calidad Gran Añada must come entirely from a single vintage, and state the vintage on the label.
- Sweetness Designations:
- Brut Nature: Less than 3 g/l of residual sugar, and has not received dosage
- Extra Brut: Maximum 6 g/l of residual sugar
- Brut: Maximum 12 g/l of residual sugar
What are the requirements for Viñedo Singular (Single Vineyard)?
- Vineyard must be approved by the regulatory board
- Winery must have a 10 year history working with the vineyard
- Vines must be at least 35 years old
- Grapes must be manually harvested
- 100% of grapes must come from the named vineyard
- Wines must be produced, aged, and bottled at named winery
- The harvest of grapes destined for a single vineyard wine must be communicated to the Consejo Regulador prior to harvest
- The Consejo Regulador may assume control of a vineyard destined to be singularly labeled from July 1st to ensure that it is not manipulated, and that it corresponds to the yield and farming requirements
- The arrival of this fruit, along with its weight must be entered into the ‘Tarjeta de Viticultor’ and submitted to the Consejo Regulador for review
What are the requirements for Vinos de Municipio?
- Grapes must come exclusively from the municipality (but 15% from neighboring municipalities may be allowed with 10 year history working with the vineyard)
- Vinification, aging, and bottling must occur within the municipality
What are the requirements for Vinos de Zona?
- Grapes must come exclusively from the zone (but 15% from neighboring zones may be allowed with 10 year history working with the vineyard)
- Vinification, aging, and bottling must occur within the zone
When was La Rioja established as a DO and a DOCa?
1991 (DO Rioja established 1933)
Rioja Alto is located within which Autonomias?
La Rioja & Castilla y León
Rioja Alavesa is located with which autonomias?
País Vasco
Rioja Oriental is located within which autonomias?
Navarra
What is the Barrio de la Estacion?
Train Station District in Haro
- Still serves as the center of wine production
- Producers located there
- Lopez de Heredia
- Compania Vinicola del Norte de Espana (CVNE)
- La Rioja Alta
- Muga
- Gomez Cruzado
When was the train system completed connecting Haro and Lograno?
How did this affect wine trade?
1880
- Wineries were established around the train station in Haro
- Allowed for Rioja to supplement French production that was devestated by phylloxera
When Rioja get hit by phylloxera?
1899
- Lost 66% of vineyard area
What are “mallas”?
Wire Cage put around Rioja bottling to ensure there was no fraud
- In 1858 Camilo Hurtado de Amézaga, Marques de Riscal invented a wire netting that covered the bottle, thereby preventing counterfeiters from either being able to slyly remove the cork, draining out the good wine and replacing it with something else, or simply refill and re-cork a used bottle, since it was impossible to remove the netting without breaking it, and once off, the netting could not be put back on the bottle. If there was something wrong with the wire netting surrounding the bottle, chances were, that bottle was a fake.
Explain the title Marques de Riscal
The title Marques de Riscal is a Spanish noble title created in 1708 by King Felipe V for Baltasar Hurtado de Amezaga, and since then only 7 other people have held it
When was French oak introduced to Rioja?
1960’s
- Enrique Forner of Marques de Caceres hired Emile Peynaud who advocated using new French Oak
When and how did Michel Rolland influence Rioja winemaking?
1987
- Michel Rolland hired by Bodegas Palacio created a new flagship wine, Cosme Palacio y Hermanos Reserva Especial
- Matured for a shorter duration in new French barrels
What are vinos de autor?
Wines more internationally styled to the palate of critics like Robert Parker
What are vinos de autor?
Wines more internationally styled to the palate of critics like Robert Parker
When did Rioja allow for village names to be added to labels?
2017
- Consejo allowed village names to be labeled
- First pioneered by Priorat in 2009
- 144 villages but only the village of the vineyard and cellar can be labeled
- Wineries cannot feature a full portfolio of different village wines unless they have production facilities in each
Describe the difference between modern and traditional Rioja producers
Traditional
- Wineries adhere to late 19th and 20th century winemaking practices
- American Oak
- Racking often
- Blending from multiple subregions
- Open-top ferment
- Long oxidative aging
- Concentratd in Haro’s Barrio de la Estacion
Modern
- Found throughout region, including Haro
- Monovarietal
- Single subregion and single-vineyards
- New European Oak
- Cold soaking
- Temperature stainless ferment
What is the name Rioja likely rerived from?
Rio Oja
- A tributary of the Ebro River
What mountain is north of Rioja (and a part of Rioja Alavesa) that protects it from cold northerly wineds?
Sierra Cantabria
List and describe the subzones of Rioja
Rioja Alta
- La Rioja Region and a tiny section in Castilla y Leon
- Furthest west
- Haro and Logrono are the main production hubs
- Largest subzone - 40% of Rioja vineyard area - more than 27,000 ha
- Lopez de Heredia, Muga, CVNE, La Rioja Alta S.A.
- Oja and Najerilla River, both tributaries of the Ebro, form valleys with lots of vineyards
- Oja Valley - chalky, alluvials soils
- Najerilla Valley - iron-rich clay
Rioja Alavesa
- Basque Country
- Bordered to the North by the Sierra Cantabrian Mountains
- Non-contigous subzone
- Small section of Rioja Alta is inbetween two Alavesa vineyard areas
- North of the Ebro River
- Surrounds the town of San Vicente de la Sonsierra
- Limestone soils
- Highest elevation vineyards in Rioja near Labastida
- Has a tradition of carbonic-macerated Tempranillo that predates Bordeaux techniques
Rioja Oriental
Navarra region
Furthest east
2018 - Name changed to Oriental from Baja
Drier and hotter than Rioja Alta and Alavesa
First subzone to harvest
- High elevations vineyard in the Yerga Mountains
What grapes are commonly grown in Rioja?
Red
- Tempranillo - 39% of plantings
- Garnacha - 31% of plantings
- Most planted grape until 1973
- Used in Rioja Alta to add alcohol, body and fruitiness
- Used in Rioja Oriental as insurance incase Tempranillo doesn’t ripen
- Some Garnacha dominant blends exist
- Mazuelo (Carignan)
- Graciano
- Maturana Tinta (Trousseau)
White
- Viura (Macabeo)
- Chardonnay
- Sauvignon Blanc
- Verdejo
- Malvasia
- Garnacha Blanca
- Maturna Blanca
- Turruntes (Albillo Mayor)