Comments on: Rioja Wine – What’s all the fuss about?

By: Ane Miren Lambe

Ane Miren Lambe — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 10:42:49 +0000

My colleague, Anna, and I will be meeting Ryan Opaz in La Rioja this week. We’re planning to introduce him and Gabriella to a few interesting wineries, both traditional and modern. There’s no doubt about it, Rioja wines can still be fantastic, at all levels, but that’s not to say that other Spanish regions don’t also produce wines of comparable standards.

And I agree with Graeme, you can still get wines at very reasonable prices in Spain. To get a similar quality wine in France or Italy, you need to dig further into your wallet.

By: sandy

sandy — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 09:45:20 +0000

I second Graeme that Spanish wins. Euro for euro, Spanish wine is a much better buy than French wine or Italian wine. It is sad that Spanish wine is still not known in Asian countries. Only the very big wineries have made it there. I prefer the more modern wines with a kick from La Rioja. Some of the “Gran Reservas” from La Rioja are so flat and dead.

By: UKMark

UKMark — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:23:22 +0000

If you add all the different wines – cava, Albarino, sherries, Moscatel de Valencia, Malaga sweet wines – an incredible range.

Of course if you talk about Iberian wines you can then include Port.

By: Edith

Edith — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:30:46 +0000

Comparing Spanish and French wine is like comparing Cabrales and Roquefort cheeses, respectively – both are delicious!

By: Ben

Ben — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:41:29 +0000

I’ll second Laguardia, it’s a stunning medieval hilltop town full of delicious wine.

By: ValenciaSon

ValenciaSon — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:31:25 +0000

How are there wine competitions on a subjective subject? How are they decided upon?

By: ryan

ryan — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:00:15 +0000

ValenciaSon you can’t win on a subjective subject!

Parubin: Good point and we’ll be covering both regions this month coming up with visits to both sides of LaRioja!

By: Graeme

Graeme — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:58:14 +0000

“So who wins on wine ? Spain or France?”

I think Spain does. It might just be that I have become used to the taste of Spanish wines, but the last few French wines I have tried have left me very unimpressed. Also I think France has lived too long off the fame of its wines and there is therefore less of the innovation that you see in other countires without the reputation.

Lat me second what Parubin says about the Rioja Alavesa – I spent a very pleasant weekend in Laguardia a few years back. Some of the bodegas have now turned their older buildings into hotels as their wine production shifted to shiny and clean new facilities – although some of these hotels can be much more expensive than staying in the nearest town.

By: ValenciaSon

ValenciaSon — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:56:25 +0000

So who wins on wine ? Spain or France?

By: Parubin

Parubin — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:35:23 +0000

I’d like to point out that ‘La Rioja’ wines are not only produced in La Rioja Autonomous Region but also in ‘La Rioja Alavesa’ which actually belongs to the basque province of Alava (Basque Country). Both La Rioja and Rioja Alavesa are in the same valley and they share the Rioja ‘denominación de origen’ but they belong to different autonomous regions (La Rioja and the Basque Country).

I made that remark because the link that was provided before (www.lariojaturismo.com) is promoted by the board of tourism of the autonomous goverment of the region of ‘La Rioja’, thus you’ll be missing some amazing towns and wineries on the basque side of ‘La Rioja Denominación de Origen’.

It wouldn’t be wise to miss these towns in Alava wine-country : Labastida, Elciego, Laguardia and Lapuebla de Labarca with such wineries as ‘Bodegas Ysios’ (Laguardia) amazing architecture by Santiago Calatrava, Granja de Nuestra Señora de Remelluri (Labastida), and Bodegas Marques de Riscal (a real must) in Elciego with the superb architecture and desing of Frank Gehry (similar to the Guggenhein in Bilbao).

Those interested in wine-tourism in La Rioja, should check the above link as well as these two listed below :

http://www.rutadelvinoderiojaalavesa.com/

http://www.elciego.com/elciego/gehry_riscal.htm