Rioja

Rioja red: Tempranillo-led, from juicy young wine to silky, long-aged Gran Reserva.

Spain's classic red. Mostly Tempranillo, often with Garnacha, Graciano and Mazuelo, and usually aged in oak. Expect strawberry, cherry and vanilla when young, leather, tobacco and dried fruit with age.

Spain's classic red. Mostly Tempranillo, often with Garnacha, Graciano and Mazuelo, and usually aged in oak. Expect strawberry, cherry and vanilla when young, leather, tobacco and dried fruit with age.

A Reserva from a classic Haro house - the safest great buy.

Viña Ardanza, CVNE Imperial Reserva, Muga Reserva or López de Heredia's Tondonia Reserva: mature, savoury, ready to drink and fair for the quality.

Viña Ardanza, CVNE Imperial Reserva, Muga Reserva or López de Heredia's Tondonia Reserva: mature, savoury, ready to drink and fair for the quality.

Chuletillas al sarmiento + Rioja Crianza.

Tiny lamb chops grilled over burning vine cuttings - Rioja's signature feast. A Crianza's fruit and gentle oak match the smoky fat.

Tiny lamb chops grilled over burning vine cuttings - Rioja's signature feast. A Crianza's fruit and gentle oak match the smoky fat.

Roast lamb or cordero asado + Gran Reserva.

Slow-roasted milk-fed lamb from the hill villages. A mature Gran Reserva's soft tannin and savoury notes match the tender meat.

Slow-roasted milk-fed lamb from the hill villages. A mature Gran Reserva's soft tannin and savoury notes match the tender meat.

Tempranillo here is silky and savoury, rarely heavy.

Rioja's dominant red grape. In Rioja's cooler zones it gives medium body, red fruit and fresh acidity; oak and age add vanilla, leather and tobacco.

Rioja's dominant red grape. In Rioja's cooler zones it gives medium body, red fruit and fresh acidity; oak and age add vanilla, leather and tobacco.

Rioja rosado: pale, dry, Garnacha-led - the local summer wine.

Rioja's rosé is usually led by Garnacha, often with some Viura, and today mostly pale and dry: strawberry, flowers and crisp acidity. A rare few are barrel-aged for years.

Rioja's rosé is usually led by Garnacha, often with some Viura, and today mostly pale and dry: strawberry, flowers and crisp acidity. A rare few are barrel-aged for years.

Menestra de verduras + white or rosado Rioja.

The spring vegetable dish of artichoke, asparagus and peas. Tough on red wine; a crisp white or pale rosado works far better.

The spring vegetable dish of artichoke, asparagus and peas. Tough on red wine; a crisp white or pale rosado works far better.

Three zones: Alta and Alavesa are cooler and fresher, Oriental warmer and riper.

Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa sit higher and closer to Atlantic weather, so their Tempranillo is fresher and more perfumed. Rioja Oriental, downstream to the east, is drier and warmer: Garnacha's home, with fuller, rounder wines.

Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa sit higher and closer to Atlantic weather, so their Tempranillo is fresher and more perfumed. Rioja Oriental, downstream to the east, is drier and warmer: Garnacha's home, with fuller, rounder wines.

Rioja Oriental: the warm east - Garnacha's comeback zone, great value.

The former Rioja Baja around Alfaro, Calahorra and Tudelilla. Drier, sunnier and Mediterranean, so Garnacha thrives: ripe, spicy, generous reds, especially from high slopes like Monte Yerga.

The former Rioja Baja around Alfaro, Calahorra and Tudelilla. Drier, sunnier and Mediterranean, so Garnacha thrives: ripe, spicy, generous reds, especially from high slopes like Monte Yerga.

Garnacha from Rioja Oriental - the value surprise.

La Montesa from Palacios Remondo shows the warm east at an everyday price.

La Montesa from Palacios Remondo shows the warm east at an everyday price.

Celebration bottle: a traditional Gran Reserva or Viñedo Singular.

La Rioja Alta 904, Prado Enea or a single-vineyard wine from a top grower - Rioja's own high end, for an occasion.

La Rioja Alta 904, Prado Enea or a single-vineyard wine from a top grower - Rioja's own high end, for an occasion.

Graciano: the small seasoning that lets Gran Reservas age.

A low-yielding, late-ripening grape used in small shares for colour, acidity and aroma. Classic houses lean on it for their longest-lived reds; a few growers bottle it alone.

A low-yielding, late-ripening grape used in small shares for colour, acidity and aroma. Classic houses lean on it for their longest-lived reds; a few growers bottle it alone.

Rioja Alta: the western, higher zone - firm, elegant, long-lived reds.

The biggest and westernmost zone, with Haro as its wine capital. Atlantic-tempered and fairly high, it gives Tempranillo with fresh acidity and fine tannin - the backbone of most classic Gran Reservas.

The biggest and westernmost zone, with Haro as its wine capital. Atlantic-tempered and fairly high, it gives Tempranillo with fresh acidity and fine tannin - the backbone of most classic Gran Reservas.

Rioja Alavesa: the Basque side - perfumed Tempranillo on limestone slopes.

North of the Ebro, under the Sierra Cantabria, around Laguardia, Labastida and Elciego. Often the lightest and most fragrant Rioja, and home to many small growers bottling village and single-vineyard wines.

North of the Ebro, under the Sierra Cantabria, around Laguardia, Labastida and Elciego. Often the lightest and most fragrant Rioja, and home to many small growers bottling village and single-vineyard wines.

A village wine from an Alavesa grower - character for little money.

Artuke Pies Negros or a Lindes de Remelluri village red: fresh, place-driven Tempranillo from family growers.

Artuke Pies Negros or a Lindes de Remelluri village red: fresh, place-driven Tempranillo from family growers.

Carbonic maceration: Alavesa's juicy, purple young red.

Small growers in Rioja Alavesa have long made young reds by fermenting whole bunches, which gives bright, bubblegum-and-berry fruit and soft tannin. Drink them young and lightly chilled.

Small growers in Rioja Alavesa have long made young reds by fermenting whole bunches, which gives bright, bubblegum-and-berry fruit and soft tannin. Drink them young and lightly chilled.

La Rioja Alta: Haro classic - Viña Ardanza and the 904 Gran Reserva.

A founding-family bodega in Haro's railway-station quarter, devoted to long barrel aging. Viña Ardanza is the dependable Reserva; 904 and 890 are the celebration Gran Reservas.

La Rioja Alta was founded in 1890 in the Barrio de la Estación in Haro and is still owned by the founding families. Its style is the classic one: long aging in American oak, frequent racking by hand, release only when the wine has softened. The range reads as a ladder. Viña Alberdi and Viña Arana are the easy way in, now labelled Gran Reserva and fed from years when the flagships aren't made. Viña Ardanza blends Tempranillo with Garnacha from Rioja Oriental and is the bottle most locals know - a Reserva with red fruit, spice and silk. The Gran Reserva 904 is the elegant one, with more Graciano and a longer finish; the 890 is rarer, more tannic and more complex, made only in great years. If you want to understand what traditional Rioja means, start with Ardanza with dinner and save a 904 for a celebration.

López de Heredia: Haro's arch-traditionalist - released only when ready.

Founded in 1877 and barely changed since: years in old American oak and long cellar rest before release. Tondonia is the lighter, more elegant red; Bosconia the rounder, fuller one.

López de Heredia is the purist's Rioja. The Haro bodega, founded in 1877, still ages its wines for many years in old barrels and holds them back in its cellars until it judges them ready, so a 'new release' Reserva may already be a decade old. The two red lines are named after vineyards: Viña Tondonia, a high-acid, fragrant, finely built red, and Viña Bosconia, a rounder and slightly fuller style. Both come as Reserva and, in the best years, Gran Reserva, which can age for decades. The wines taste of dried cherry, tobacco, leather and a savoury, almost sherry-like lift that comes from slow oxidative aging - unusual, and prized by sommeliers. The Reserva is the realistic order in a restaurant; the Gran Reserva is a collector's bottle. The whites and the rosado from the same house are remarkable in their own right (see white and rosado Rioja).

Palacios Remondo: Álvaro Palacios' Garnacha estate at Alfaro - La Montesa is the value star.

The family estate in Alfaro, Rioja Oriental, run by Álvaro Palacios since 1999. Organic Garnacha on Monte Yerga, from everyday La Montesa to single-vineyard Quiñón de Valmira.

When Álvaro Palacios - already famous for Priorat and Bierzo - took over his family's estate in Alfaro around 1999, he cut volumes sharply, converted to organic farming and bet on Garnacha in a region that had been ripping it out. The vineyards climb the slopes of Monte Yerga, high enough to keep Garnacha fresh in the warmest part of Rioja. La Montesa is the widely available Crianza and a model of what Rioja Oriental Garnacha tastes like: red berries, herbs, spice, soft tannin and a fair price. Propiedad comes from older vines and has more depth. Quiñón de Valmira is a single-vineyard Garnacha in the Viñedo Singular category and priced among Rioja's rarest bottles. Plácet de Valtomelloso is a textured Viura-based white. Start with La Montesa; it is a convincing argument that Rioja is not only Tempranillo.

Muga: Haro house straddling both camps - classic Prado Enea, modern Torre Muga.

A family bodega in Haro with its own cooperage that makes both a classic Gran Reserva (Prado Enea) and dark, modern cuvées (Torre Muga, Aro). The Reserva is a reliable restaurant bottle.

Muga is the house to taste if you want both faces of Rioja under one roof. The family bodega in Haro's station quarter still ferments in large oak vats and makes its own barrels. Prado Enea Gran Reserva is the traditional flagship: long-aged, savoury and fine-grained. Torre Muga and Aro go the other way - riper fruit, French oak and dense structure - and sit among Rioja's collector reds. In between, Muga Reserva and Selección Especial are the dependable, widely poured bottles. Muga also makes a widely admired pale rosado and a sparkling Conde de Haro. A side-by-side of Prado Enea and Torre Muga is the clearest lesson in traditional versus modern Rioja you'll find. The bodega runs regular tours with tastings.

Murrieta: grand Logroño estate; Capellanía is its benchmark white.

A historic estate south of Logroño whose Capellanía is a structured, barrel-aged white; Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial is the red (and rare white) flagship.

Marqués de Murrieta is one of Rioja's founding estates, based at Ygay just south of Logroño in Rioja Alta, and it has built a reputation for whites as well as reds. Capellanía comes from a single plot of old Viura vines and is aged in barrel: richer and more textured than a young white Rioja, with citrus, nuts and spice, but less oxidative than López de Heredia - a good middle path for drinkers who like white Burgundy. The Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial is the estate's red flagship, released after long aging, and in rare years a white Castillo Ygay appears too. Capellanía is the realistic buy; give it a few years and serve it with fish, poultry or mushrooms. The estate also owns Pazo de Barrantes in Rías Baixas.

Held back: some houses release wines only when ready.

The most traditional Haro bodegas keep wines in barrel and bottle far longer than required, so a current release can be ten years old or more.

Rioja's aging terms set minimums, but a handful of bodegas go far beyond them, and that extra time is part of what you pay for. La Rioja Alta keeps its Gran Reserva 890 in American oak for around six years and racks it by hand repeatedly; López de Heredia holds its Tondonia and Bosconia wines, and even its white and rosado, for many years before release, so a 'current' Reserva is often a decade old. The effect is mellow, integrated tannin and tertiary flavours - dried cherry, tobacco, cedar, a savoury lift - straight off the shelf, with no cellar needed. It also makes these wines remarkable value: you buy a ready-to-drink older wine at the price of a young one. In a restaurant, the vintage on a traditional Gran Reserva will look old; that is the point, not a fault.

Artuke: brothers in Baños de Ebro making village and single-vineyard Alavesa.

A family grower in Rioja Alavesa that moved from bulk wine to bottling, now run by two brothers. Organic bush vines, a juicy carbonic village red and several single-vineyard wines.

Artuke takes its name from brothers Arturo and Kike de Miguel, whose father moved the family's Baños de Ebro vineyards from bulk wine to bottled wine in 1991. The estate farms its vines organically as low bush vines, and its range follows the Burgundian logic the new Rioja labels allow. The entry wine, simply called Artuke, is made by carbonic maceration with whole clusters - the traditional young Alavesa red, purple and bursting with fruit. Pies Negros is the village red, Tempranillo seasoned with Graciano. At the top sit single-vineyard bottlings: Finca Los Locos from a high terrace planted in 1950, La Condenada from a recovered old plot, plus El Escolladero in Ábalos and Paso Las Mañas in Samaniego. Prices are well below the trophy wines of the big houses, so this is where to look for character and value. The family belongs to the Rioja'n'Roll group of young growers.

Aged white Rioja - the insider's bottle.

López de Heredia's Tondonia Blanco Reserva, Gravonia or Murrieta's Capellanía.

Barrel-aged white Rioja is a distinctive style few regions make, and it is far easier to buy in Rioja than abroad. Three bottles cover the range. Viña Gravonia, López de Heredia's Crianza white, is the entry point: golden, nutty, still fresh. Viña Tondonia Blanco Reserva is the classic, released around a decade after harvest, with honey, beeswax, dried citrus and a salty finish - it keeps for decades. Marqués de Murrieta's Capellanía, from one old Viura plot, is richer and less oxidative, closer to white Burgundy in feel. Any of these makes a striking gift for a wine lover who thinks Spain means red. Store them like fine whites, open them cool rather than icy and give them air; they improve over an evening in the glass.

The village wave: growers labelling Rioja by place, not barrel time.

Young family growers - many in Rioja Alavesa - now bottle wines named for a village or a single vineyard, often with no aging term at all.

For most of its history Rioja was a merchant's region: big bodegas bought grapes across all three zones and sold wine by brand and aging tier. Since the new zone, village and single-vineyard labels arrived, a generation of growers has turned that around. Families such as Artuke in Baños de Ebro and Abel Mendoza in San Vicente farm their own old bush vines, make wine from one village or plot and often skip the Crianza/Reserva words altogether. Telmo Rodríguez at Remelluri, whose Lindes wines compare two villages, has been a prominent voice for this approach, and young growers have gathered in collectives such as Rioja'n'Roll. In the glass these wines tend to show less overt oak, more freshness and clearer differences from plot to plot. On a shelf, a Rioja with a village or vineyard name and no aging term, from a small family estate, is usually a sign of this style - and often good value.

Three zones: Alta and Alavesa are cooler and fresher, Oriental warmer and riper.

Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa sit higher and closer to Atlantic weather, so their Tempranillo is fresher and more perfumed. Rioja Oriental, downstream to the east, is drier and warmer: Garnacha's home, with fuller, rounder wines.

Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa sit higher and closer to Atlantic weather, so their Tempranillo is fresher and more perfumed. Rioja Oriental, downstream to the east, is drier and warmer: Garnacha's home, with fuller, rounder wines.

In the glass: Alta/Alavesa: brighter acidity, finesse. Oriental: riper fruit, more body and warmth.

Big houses blend across zones; growers bottle one village.

Most classic Rioja is a blend from several zones, balanced by the bodega for a consistent house style. A growing number of family growers now bottle a single village or vineyard instead, so place shows more than house style.

Most classic Rioja is a blend from several zones, balanced by the bodega for a consistent house style. A growing number of family growers now bottle a single village or vineyard instead, so place shows more than house style.

In the glass: Blends: polished, consistent, oak-led. Village wines: more vintage and site character.

Altitude under the Sierra Cantabria keeps Alavesa wines fresh.

The Sierra Cantabria ridge shelters the north bank of the Ebro from cold northern winds, while vineyards climb high up its slopes. Higher plots ripen later and keep acidity - the reason Alavesa growers prize their upper terraces.

Rioja's vineyards stretch along the Ebro and its tributaries, and elevation does much of the work that latitude does elsewhere. On the north bank, the limestone wall of the Sierra Cantabria blocks cold air from the Basque coast and gives a band of south-facing slopes from Labastida through Samaniego to Laguardia. The highest plots sit far above the river and ripen weeks later than low, flat vineyards. That's why Remelluri sources its white from its highest vineyards and why its Labastida village red tastes fresher than its warmer San Vicente sibling; Artuke's flagship Finca Los Locos comes from a high terrace planted in the 1950s. The same logic plays out in the east, where Palacios Remondo farms Garnacha on the cooler slopes of Monte Yerga rather than the hot valley floor. When you compare Riojas, ask how high the vines are: altitude predicts freshness better than the aging word on the label.

In the glass: High plots: fresher, more aromatic, firmer acid. Low valley plots: riper, softer.

Traditional: American oak and long aging. Modern: French oak, riper fruit.

Classic Rioja ages for years in used American oak, giving vanilla, coconut and soft, savoury wines. Modern producers use French barrels, riper grapes and shorter aging for darker, denser wines. Many houses make both.

Classic Rioja ages for years in used American oak, giving vanilla, coconut and soft, savoury wines. Modern producers use French barrels, riper grapes and shorter aging for darker, denser wines. Many houses make both.

In the glass: American oak: vanilla, coconut, dill, mellow. French oak: toast, spice, firmer and darker.

Carbonic maceration: Alavesa's juicy, purple young red.

Small growers in Rioja Alavesa have long made young reds by fermenting whole bunches, which gives bright, bubblegum-and-berry fruit and soft tannin. Drink them young and lightly chilled.

Small growers in Rioja Alavesa have long made young reds by fermenting whole bunches, which gives bright, bubblegum-and-berry fruit and soft tannin. Drink them young and lightly chilled.

In the glass: Vivid purple fruit, banana or bubblegum notes, soft tannin; best within two years.

Held back: some houses release wines only when ready.

The most traditional Haro bodegas keep wines in barrel and bottle far longer than required, so a current release can be ten years old or more.

Rioja's aging terms set minimums, but a handful of bodegas go far beyond them, and that extra time is part of what you pay for. La Rioja Alta keeps its Gran Reserva 890 in American oak for around six years and racks it by hand repeatedly; López de Heredia holds its Tondonia and Bosconia wines, and even its white and rosado, for many years before release, so a 'current' Reserva is often a decade old. The effect is mellow, integrated tannin and tertiary flavours - dried cherry, tobacco, cedar, a savoury lift - straight off the shelf, with no cellar needed. It also makes these wines remarkable value: you buy a ready-to-drink older wine at the price of a young one. In a restaurant, the vintage on a traditional Gran Reserva will look old; that is the point, not a fault.

In the glass: Soft tannin, tertiary aromas, ready to drink on release.

The village wave: growers labelling Rioja by place, not barrel time.

Young family growers - many in Rioja Alavesa - now bottle wines named for a village or a single vineyard, often with no aging term at all.

For most of its history Rioja was a merchant's region: big bodegas bought grapes across all three zones and sold wine by brand and aging tier. Since the new zone, village and single-vineyard labels arrived, a generation of growers has turned that around. Families such as Artuke in Baños de Ebro and Abel Mendoza in San Vicente farm their own old bush vines, make wine from one village or plot and often skip the Crianza/Reserva words altogether. Telmo Rodríguez at Remelluri, whose Lindes wines compare two villages, has been a prominent voice for this approach, and young growers have gathered in collectives such as Rioja'n'Roll. In the glass these wines tend to show less overt oak, more freshness and clearer differences from plot to plot. On a shelf, a Rioja with a village or vineyard name and no aging term, from a small family estate, is usually a sign of this style - and often good value.

In the glass: Less vanilla, more fruit purity and site character; vintage differences show.

Organic bush vines are spreading among growers and leading estates.

Low, free-standing old vines give small crops of concentrated grapes. Several leading names farm organically, from Remelluri in Alavesa to Palacios Remondo in the east.

Low, free-standing old vines give small crops of concentrated grapes. Several leading names farm organically, from Remelluri in Alavesa to Palacios Remondo in the east.

In the glass: More concentration and freshness; less reliance on oak for flavour.