Spain - Rioja

It’s easy to see why the Marqués de Riscal consistently places highly in World’s Best Vineyards contest. One of the oldest wineries in all of Rioja DOC and producing their first vintage in 1862, they proudly hold a back catalogue of all their wines for every year dating back to 1862.

6 million bottles are produced per annum, with another 4 million bottles produced in Rueda. French oak is used for ageing their most premium wines and all grapes are hand harvested & sorted. American oak is used for maturation of their other wines. Traditional foot stamping is even still used for some of their wines. We were lucky enough to visit while harvest was still underway so got a chance to see the winery in full swing, which was wonderful to see.

Our tour finished with a tasting of a white made from Verdejo grape and two reds - Crianza and Reserva. Rioja aging classification has certain rules for ageing of Crianza, Reserva, and Gran Reserva wines. For red wines, Crianza must be aged for a total of 2 years with at least 1 year in oak barrels; Reserva must be aged for a total of 3 years with at least 1 year in oak barrels and minimum 6 months in bottle; and Gran Reserva must be aged for a total of 5 years with at least 2 years in oak barrels and two years in bottles. White wines from Rioja also have minimum barrel ageing and bottle ageing time but they are shorter than the times for red wines.

Most of the wines of are readily available in the UK and with the 2016 Reserva retailing for around £16, they offer incredible value for money from a winery with a long history of producing excellent quality wines. I would definitely recommend seeking out some of the other labels to try also if you can as they have a really impressive range.

The hotel adjacent to the winery was designed by architect Frank Gehry and is not just visually stunning but creates a real sense of old and new on the landscape. Such a pleasure to stay there, definitely a treat night!