Wine Collecting_ Rioja Overview & 6 Top Rioja Wine Producers

I recently visited Rioja in Spain and so in this video I'm going to give you a brief overview of the Rioja wine region and then discuss six of my favorite producers from Rioja, some of which are modern and some of which are classic or traditional Rioja producers. Why Rioja? Well, I know that many people are big Bordeaux fans around here, myself included. However, in my Wine Collecting 101 video remember that I mentioned the importance of having a diversified wine cellar and certainly Spanish wines would be an important part of any wine cellar. So at a minimum I would recommend having at least five to ten percent of Spanish wines in your wine cellar. But I actually think that that's too low. Spanish wines, especially Rioja wines, offer compelling quality for the price and while the prices have been trending upwards they still offer tremendous value compared to other wine regions throughout the world. The other great thing about wines from Rioja is that while they are collectible and age-worthy in their own right, they also make tremendous cellar defenders. Especially the wines produced by the classic producers have been aged extensively prior to release and so that gives you tremendous flexibility. You can either drink those wines immediately or you can age them and let them develop further and this flexibility is extremely beneficial for wine collectors. Further, regardless of whether you're talking about a modern producer or a classic producer, these producers tend to make a wide variety of wines at various price points and so regardless of your financial circumstances you should be able to find a Rioja that's within your budget. But before I discuss my six top Rioja wine producers, I should first give you a brief Rioja overview. Rioja is located in the northern part of Spain. It's about 100 kilometers wide. It often runs along the Ebro River which provides a variety of microclimates. Rioja is ideally situated between two mountain ranges, one to the north and one to the south. The mountain range to the north is significant. It protects the region from some of the bad weather that would otherwise flow in from the Atlantic Ocean to the north. The mountain ranges to the south, meanwhile, protect the Rioja region from some of the hot air that could come from the central part of Spain. Rioja was first recognized as a designation of origin or DO way back in 1925. Currently, only Rioja and Priorat have the highest classification for wine regions in Spain. Rioja is regulated by which provides some strict guidance in terms of the type of maximum density that they could plant the grapes, the various pruning methods and systems that they could use to train the grapes, and a variety of other rules and regulations to which the producers must adhere. Also, when you talk about Rioja, it's important to note that it's not just one monolithic area. Rather, it's three different zones. Those zones include the Rioja Alta Zone, the Rioja Elevesa Zone, and also Rioja Oriental, formerly known as Rioja Baja. Rioja Elevesa and Rioja Alta are generally the highest altitude, and they oftentimes have some cooler temperatures which allow for some longer growing seasons. Many of the highest quality wines come from fruit that's produced in one of those two areas. Rioja Oriental also has some areas that are capable of producing high quality fruit at higher elevations and with cooler temperatures, but that zone also has some vineyards planted at lower altitudes that get much, much warmer than is ideal, and so you tend to get a lot of the Garnacha or Grenache planted in that area. When you're talking about grapes in Rioja, for reds you have to start with Tempranillo, which comprises almost 90% of the production. After that, you get about 8% of Grenache and then small amounts of Graciano and Mazuelo. Mazuelo is also known as Carignan. Oftentimes, the wines are based primarily on Tempranillo, and then you'll have a little bit of some of those other varieties blended in. Blending is very, very important in Rioja. There can be some significant vintage variation in Rioja from year to year, and so it's definitely important to look at the ratings and consider those when you make purchases. The Consejo Regulador rates vintages every year. They do this on a qualitative scale using words such as normal, good, very good, or excellent. The last time there was a normal vintage was way back in 1984, so the vast majority of vintages will either be good, very good, or excellent. While it is certainly a good idea to purchase Rioja wines from vintages that were rated as excellent, you don't want to ignore vintages rated as very good. The vintage ratings take into account the experiences of all three zones from Rioja for a particular vintage. However, in vintages that are rated very good overall, you could have some particular areas or zones within Rioja that do exceptionally well. An example of this is 2015. That vintage was rated very good overall. However, Rioja Alta had an exceptional vintage that year, and so you definitely want to look behind the overall rating a little bit when you're making these purchasing decisions to avoid overlooking some gems. For those of you who are new to Rioja, you've probably seen some names like Crianza, Reserva, and Gran Reserva on the labels and wondered what those meant. This isn't a situation like California where the term reserve generally has no meaning and can just be used to sound impressive. Rather, in Rioja, these terms have specific meaning and they correspond to a particular aging requirement. These are terms that you'll typically see used on the bottles for classic producers, producers that tend to age their wines for a long time at the winery before they're released. Crianza, for example, has a minimum aging requirement of 24 months, 12 months of which must be in barrel. Reserva, similarly, requires a minimum aging time of 36 months, 12 months of that has to be in barrel, and six months in bottle. For Gran Reservas, you're talking about a 60-month minimum aging requirement for a whopping five years. 24 months of that has to be in barrel, and 24 months has to be in bottle. It is important to note, however, that just by virtue of the fact that a wine is called a Reserva or Gran Reserva doesn't necessarily mean it's a high quality wine. This is so because the regulations don't require specific quality levels for those wines. They just refer to aging, and so while there can be certainly a positive correlation between longer aging and higher quality, that's not necessarily the case. You could have a situation, for example, where a producer may have just unsold inventory that was laying around the winery for an extended period of time and would thus satisfy their requirements to be called Gran Reserva. That doesn't necessarily mean it's a top wine, and so in Rioja it's extremely important to know which producers make high quality wines and to use those when making your purchasing decisions. And so with this brief Rioja overview behind us, we're ready to get into my six top Rioja wine producers. These producers make a wide variety of wines, and so even though I'm only discussing six producers, there's literally dozens of wines from these producers that you could purchase and which I would recommend. There are of course many more excellent producers in Rioja, but due to the limits of time, we don't have time to get into all of them today. But certainly if there's one that you particularly enjoy that I did not discuss, please let me know that in the comments below. And be sure to stick around until the end, because I'm going to be discussing one of my favorite all-time Spanish wine experiences at the end. The first top Rioja wine producer I'll be discussing is a classic producer, La Rioja Alta. La Rioja Alta was founded way back in 1890, and while it's a classic producer, they do use some modern state-of-the-art technology to produce their wines. La Rioja Alta controls every aspect of the wine production. They even source their own American oak and use that to make their own barrels in-house. They recently purchased optical sorting equipment, and so recently La Rioja Alta started making a much more strict selection process, and this will only push the quality north from where it was previously. They also engage in some classic practices such as racking by candlelight, and they of course age their wines for an extended period of time in American oak. La Rioja Alta makes five different wines under the La Rioja Alta label, including three Grand Reservas. The most prestigious Grand Reserva that La Rioja Alta produces is the 890. The 890 pays homage to their founding in 1890, and as you might guess, this is the one that's aged the longest, including an incredible six years in barrel and four years in bottle, so it's aged a minimum of 10 years before it's released. This one has tremendous complexity and is ready to be enjoyed after release, but will certainly benefit from additional bottle aging and continue to gain additional complexity as it ages. This one routinely sells for more than $200 on release, and is definitely one worth considering if you're looking for the top-of-the-line bottling from La Rioja Alta. La Rioja Alta also makes a 904. This is another Grand Reserva that's more of a classic wine. 904 typically ages for four years in barrel and four years in bottle before it's released. The current vintage in the market is the 2011. This one is typically available for $65 to $70 or so. The next vintage to be released will be the 2015. This will probably be released in February or so. It was supposed to be released earlier this year, but that release got delayed because La Rioja Alta did not think that this wine was ready to be enjoyed on release yet. I had the opportunity to taste this wine with a winemaker for La Rioja Alta a month or so ago, and it's absolutely incredible, and the winemaker believes that this could be one of their best 904s in decades. So you definitely want to circle your calendar for February and keep an eye out for the next release of the 904. The other Grand Reserva produced by La Rioja Alta is the Vina Arana Grand Reserva. The 2014 is the current vintage, and this one sells for around $50. This one is made in more of a modern style. Among other things, it's aged in newer oak than some of the other Grand Reservas. This one is 94% Tempranillo and 6% Graciano. La Rioja Alta makes two Reservas that are certainly worth considering, the Vina Ardanza and the Vina Alberde. Certainly in the vintages where they don't produce one or more of the Grand Reservas, some of that fruit may find its way into one of these two wines. In 2013 for example, they didn't make any of the top four wines, and all their top fruit went into the Vina Alberde. So certainly if you have an opportunity to find the 2013 Alberde, definitely do so. The next top Rioja producer is a modern producer, Bodega Contador, that's owned and operated by highly acclaimed winemaker Benjamin Romeo. In 1995, winemaker Benjamin Romeo acquired a cave in the foothills of the Sierra Cantabria mountains. A year later, he made his first vintage of La Cueva del Contador in his father's garage. Benjamin continued to strategically purchase vineyards and make wines in the years to follow. Before long, Benjamin became famous worldwide when his 2004 Contador Cuvée received 100 points from Robert Parker. Benjamin is involved with every aspect of his wine production. This includes going to France personally to select oak to be used for the French oak barrels that he ages his wines in, and also choosing corks of the highest quality from high altitude mountain ranges in Spain. Benjamin Romeo makes cult wines that are made in fairly low production and can be quite costly. They're extracted wines that are very fruit forward. They're full-bodied, intense, and concentrated. They're more like a Ribera del Duro expression of Tempranillo than a Rioja. This is certainly a very exciting producer and one that's generally regarded as one of the better modern producers in Spain. The next top Rioja producer is Campania de Vinícola del Norte de España, or CVNE for short. You may have seen CUNE or C-U-N-E on the labels. That's so, however, because way back in the late 1800s, the person that was making the label for these wines thought that there was a mistake because you can't really pronounce CVNE, and so they unilaterally changed the V to a U without checking with the winery. But the rest is history, however, because the winery just went with it rather than going to the expense of changing it, and now this is an extremely well-recognized brand. CVNE actually has a number of brands, all of which are quite good, but today I'm discussing four of them. I'll start by discussing CUNE. CUNE makes a number of wines, but certainly the Crianza, Reserva, and Gran Reserva are typically wines that are produced every year, and they all offer exceptional quality at the price point. The Crianza, for example, can typically be purchased for as little as $9 US, which is absolutely phenomenal for a wine of this quality, and the Gran Reserva typically prices at around $40 or so. The next brand produced by CUNE is Imperial. Imperial is an artisanal, small, independent producer that's produced within the CVNE facility in Aro, Spain. This producer started way back in the 1920s and typically makes Reservas and Gran Reservas. These wines are typically made only in top vintages, and so you're not going to find them every single year. Speaking from experience, these wines are incredibly age-worthy and offer outstanding quality, especially for the price. When I was in Spain, I had the opportunity to do a vertical of the 1964, the 1994, and the 2004. The 1964 is probably one of the top all-time vintages in Spain, and this wine had some aromatics that absolutely haunt me to this day. It was holding up extraordinarily well, and certainly the 1994 and 2004 were showing extremely well also. So definitely this is a producer that I highly recommend, and you can't go wrong with the Imperial brand. Like Imperial, Viña Real also dates back to the 1920s. Viña Real is the third brand that I'm discussing that's owned and operated by CVNE. The Viña Real facility is located in Rioja Alavesa, unlike CUNE and CUNE Imperial, which are located in Rioja Alta. Viña Real recently completed construction of an extremely impressive state-of-the-art facility that's been in place since about 2005 or so. Viña Real wines are extremely age-worthy and high-quality wines. They tend to cost a little bit more than the Imperial wines. Among other wines, they generally have a Crianza, a Reserva, and a Gran Reserva. These wines are again produced at a variety of price points, with the Crianza being extremely affordable and the Gran Reserva topping out at about $55 or $60. Also in Rioja Alavesa, and not so far from Viña Real, you have the fourth brand from CVNE that I'll be discussing today, Vinados del Cantino, or Cantino for short. Cantino is interesting because it's the first producer in Rioja to be based on the Chateau concept, and by that I mean that all their vineyards were located on one estate, and the winery produces nothing but wine from estate-grown fruit. Cantino is more of a modern style producer, and so even though CVNE is a classic producer generally, and certainly one of the first producers in Rioja, Cantino is their modern expression of Tempranillo and some other wines from the region. They have 62 hectares of vineyards on the estate. Interestingly, their caves date way back to the 16th century and are certainly very interesting to tour. Cantino has a very interesting lineup. They actually produce a 100% from Rioja. They also produce an extraordinary Graciano from Rioja fruit, 100% Graciano, and then they produce a Reserva, a Gran Reserva, and also a Vino del Olivo, which is one of their higher-end wines and tends to be my favorite wine that Cantino produces. If you're getting value from this video, please smash that like button so it gets distributed to more viewers, and please subscribe to my channel so you don't miss the next one. I produce weekly wine videos. The next top producer I'll be discussing is a modern producer named Rota. Rota was founded in 1986 and it produces its wines from 17 different vineyards of old vines. Rota produces four different wines. They range in quality from a more entry-level wine all the way up to a wine that's extremely pricey and very difficult to locate. The entry-level wine that's made by Rota is the Rota Sella. This is a vibrant young wine that's made from vines that age 15 to 30 years. This one's about $20 to $25 in price and is designed for early consumption. And since modern producers don't do the extended aging, you won't typically see the Crianza, Reserva, and Gran Reserva nomenclature on these bottles. If you go one level up from the Sella, you'll find the Rota. This used to be called the Rota II prior to 2002. This one sells for about $40 to $50 depending on where you can find it. This one is made up of wines that are designed to produce a red fruit profile. This is another one that's vibrant and expressive and ready to be enjoyed on the younger side. If you go up another level, the third most prestigious wine from Rota is the Rota I. This one will set you back about $70 or $75. This one is selected from parcels that are designed to achieve a black fruit profile. So the goal is for them to find an expression of fruit that has black fruit descriptors such as black plum along with some minerality to it. The top wine from Rota is a very special wine that sells for more than $200 and it's called Circion. In 1995, Rota discovered that some of the grapes aged extremely well and when you tasted them off the vine, they tasted more like wine than a grape. They did a limited experiment with some of those grapes and they produced wine from them and they discovered that those wines were absolutely extraordinary. In particular, they found that they had extraordinary complexity and they were characterized by silkiness. So since that time, they decided to make this a dedicated bottling and they searched the vineyard for grapes that fit this profile and they make limited quantities of this very special wine. The next top Rioja producer I'll be discussing is as traditional as it comes. They don't embrace modern technology. Rather, with this producer, it's almost like you're in a time warp and you're back into the 1800s. The results, however, speak for themselves. And so I'm talking about Lopez Heredia, which is an extraordinary producer of Rioja. Lopez Heredia has been producing Rioja for 145 years. Their red wines are Tempranillo based, but they often include some Grenache and a little bit of Misuelo and Graciano. Tandonia is their best vineyard and definitely my favorite bottling from this producer. The Gran Reserva from Tandonia is very, very difficult to come by. However, they make about 220,000 bottles of the Reserva, so you should definitely have some luck finding that one. Notably, when you're talking about Lopez Heredia, they age the wines far longer than they're required to do so to use the Crianza, Reserva, and Gran Reserva nomenclature. For example, 2010 is the current release of the Reserva. You may also be able to find some 2008 or 2009 on the shelves as well. These wines at the Reserva level typically sell for about $50 in the U.S. If you want to try spending about $25 on a Lopez Heredia, you can try getting something from the Cubillo vineyard. Specifically, the Lopez Heredia Cubillo Crianza is an excellent wine that sells for about $25 or so U.S. This wine is produced from some of the youngest vines from this producer, but for Lopez Heredia, young vines is relative, as it means that they typically average about 40 years of age on them. Impressively, this wine still ages for two years in oak and another two years in bottle before it's released. Certainly very impressive aging for a Crianza. This one has bright fruit and more acidity than many Crianzas have, and it often rivals or surpasses the levels of many Reservas or even Gran Reservas from other producers. And if you ever get a chance to try a Blanco or a Rosé from Lopez Heredia, by all means do so. It's extraordinarily difficult to locate a Gran Reserva Blanco, but even the Reserva Blancos are incredible, and I highly, highly recommend them. Marques de Murrieta is the next top Rioja producer I'll be discussing. This is another classic producer and one that was there at the very inception of the Rioja region way back in the 1850s. They have about 300 hectares of vineyards and produce their wines exclusively from their own vineyards. They produce wines under the Marques de Murrieta name, such as a Crianza, Reserva, and a Gran Reserva, which are excellent. But my favorite wines from this producer are the incredible and very, very hard to locate Castillo Igai Gran Reserva Especial. They make a Blanco and a Red, and both of them are extremely difficult to locate. The Red will set you back around $200 if you can find it. The Whites are almost impossible to locate. However, I was able to track one down back in January and actually found it on a wine list in a restaurant. And so I had the 1986 Castillo Igai Gran Reserva Especial Blanco, and that wine was absolutely phenomenal and certainly one of the top two or three white wines that I've ever had the opportunity to taste. All the Castillo Igai wines are extremely impressive and definitely wines that I would recommend if you're able to track them down. If you're interested in another terrific region from Spain that you can use to help diversify your portfolio, please be sure to check out the video that I produced about the Priorat region, which is linked in the description below.