Curtain lifted for Spanish stars

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About a three-and-a-half hour drive north of Madrid is Rioja, probably Spain’s best-known viticulture region. Extremely popular wines are pressed here on over 60,000 hectares of plantation and are known above all as perfect accompaniments to dishes. While the ten largest producers are responsible for around 40 percent of all Rioja wines, there are also many small family owned businesses.

After the UK, Germany and the USA, Switzerland is already the fourth country to which Rioja exports the most. About six million 0.75-liter bottles of Rioja were drunk in Germany in 2021, well over half a bottle per person. It is not surprising that Consejo Regulador, which is responsible for, among other things, issuing regulations and overseeing the Rioja viticulture and wine marketing, recognizes Switzerland as a strategically important market.

Rioja between tradition and modernity

This year’s Rioja Prestige Tasting in Bad Ragaz showcased not only well-known wines, but also rare wine pearls, some of which are only bottled in small quantities. It was also planned to juxtapose wines made in the traditional Rioja style with samples where winemakers try innovative viticulture techniques.

Classic styles of red Rioja, advertised as Reserva or Gran Reserva, mature for several years in wooden barrels, while modern interpretations usually only ripen in wood for one year to emphasize fruit and elegance. The fact that this can work is illustrated, for example, by the 2020 La Condenada from Bodega Artuke winery, which was awarded a maximum of 100 points by British wine critic and Master of Wine Tim Atkin (62).

Wine Master Ivan Barbic (54), who was present there, said of the first-class tasting: “This unforgettable tasting demonstrated the variety offered at the highest quality level from Rioja today. From the partial maceration carbonic with a lot of density and complexity, from fresh, fruity red wines to Gran Reservas aged for years in wooden barrels that are inimitably balanced, with a lot of depth and above all a lot of aging potential » .

Flavor fireworks in the starred restaurant

With all the exciting red wines, it’s almost forgotten that just as fine white wines are made from Rioja. In order to introduce them to us and show that white Rioja goes well with the dishes, we went to dinner at Memories restaurant, which has three Michelin stars, after the red wine tasting.

Here, too, white Rioja has been shown to be among the best in terms of quality when it comes to white wines. Slightly more mature specimens exuded delicate aromas of lemon zest, ripe peaches, honey and beeswax. André Kunz, author of “Schweizerische Weinzeitung”, lauds Rioja wines:Rioja Prestige wines have come in the league of the best wines and mostly at very reasonable prices. You can enjoy the wine,” Kunz tells Blick.

This is exactly what makes Rioja so unique as a viticulture region: solid quality can be obtained for very little money, whether red or white wine. Even the more qualitatively assertive wines are still affordable, especially when compared directly to the best French regions.

Source : Blick