Finding out about the Rioja Protected Designation of Origin
The Rioja Protected Designation of Origin is a great reference in the Spanish viticulture quality industry due to its classical winery and its new generation of innovative wines.
More than 60,000 ha of vineyard extension allocated among the regions of Rioja itself, Álava and Navarra define the Designation.
The wine tradition in Rioja is qualified as ‘millennial’. There are wine presses and warehouse archaeological remains that prove the grapevine and wine culture was much present there 2,000 years ago, more precisely in Roman times.
Within the Rioja Designation of Origin we can find two types of grape that are authorized by the PDO Regulations:
- Red grape: where we can find Tempranillo, Garnacha, Graciano, Mazuelo and red Maturana.
- Green grape: where we can find Viura, Malvasia, white Garnacha, white Tempranillo, white Maturana, Torrontes, Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc and Verdejo.
With regard to types of wine, we can find four:
- Warranty of Origin: these are wines from their first or second year that preserve their freshness and fruit primary features.
- Crianza:
- Red: for wines with a minimum of their third year being stored in oak barrel for at least one year.
- White: the minimum aging period in barrel should be 6 months.
- Reserva:
- Red: selected wines with a minimum aging between oak barrel and bottle of 3 years, at least one of them in barrel.
- White: 2 years of aging, at least 6 months of that period in barrel.
- Gran Reserva:
- Red: selected wines from big harvests with a minimum aging of 2 years in oak barrel and 3 years stored in bottle.
- White: for these wines, the aging consists of 4 years, at least 6 months of that period in barrel.