Rioja Wine: What to Drink in Spain
It’s Not Just Reservas and Gran Reservas
Rioja is Spain’s most respected wine region, known for long-aged and long-lived Reserva and Gran Reserva wines with plenty of time in barrel and bottle before release. If you travel to Spain, you’ll certainly find plenty of those wines on wine lists in restaurants and in wine stores, as the great wines of Rioja are the pinnacle for many Spaniards. But when it comes time to have a glass of Rioja at a tapas bar or pair a bottle with a traditional Spanish meal, it’s a different type of Rioja you’re most likely to see. Old Rioja is drunk on special occasions and with certain dishes in Spain, often in fine dining restaurants. The most common and popular styles from the region are crianzas and wines with minimal aging.
Rioja Crianzas
Crianza is the lowest of Rioja’s aged wine categories, guaranteeing the wine has spent a year in barrel and another in bottle before release. Stylistically, Crianzas are made to be drunk younger than Reservas and Gran Reservas while preserving the classic barrel-aged character so associated with Riojan wines. The best Crianzas, can surpass wines double or triple their price, while others can lack the complexity to handle a year or more of oak. A crianza from any top Rioja producer is usually a safe bet for everything from a casual glass of wine to a multicourse meal.
Young Vino del Año Wines in the Rioja
In La Rioja and the Basque Country, there’s another type of Riojan red that’s even more typical, especially in the pintxos bars that fill up with locals each night. These are young wines, usually referred to as vino joven or vino del año. They rarely age in oak and are often made using carbonic maceration, a fermentation technique that produces fresh, fruity wines to be consumed young. Within young Riojas, you’ll find very inexpensive and very basic wines to gulp with tapas, but also subtle and interesting bottlings from small artisan producers. Many pintxos bars will have up to a dozen young wines by the glass, so it pays to have a few names in mind if you want a safe bet.
Outside of Spain, it’s easy to be drawn to the rarefied top bottlings that define Rioja’s reputation as a top global wine region, but they really are overkill for many situations. Longer-aged Riojas are usually more concentrated and spend longer in barrel than crianzas or young wines, making them perfect for long bottle aging and pairing with grilled meats. For everyday drinking, it’s hard to beat the value and enjoyment of a quality younger Rioja.
Six Rioja Red Wines to Drink by the Glass in Spain
La Rioja Alta SA Viña Alberdi Crianza
A classic wine from one of the region’s most traditional producers, Viña Alberdi is the Platonic ideal of a Rioja Crianza, with a deep, spicy nose and mature flavors. Perfect as a “baby reserva” that you can find by the glass at incredible value. Alberdi will fit into just about any Rioja food pairing, but if you want to upgrade, its big brother Viña Ardanza is consistently one of Spain’s great reds and comes at a reasonable price too.
López de Heredia Viña Cubillo Crianza
The entry-level wine from the legendary López de Heredia, Viña Cubillo is a fine wine in its own right and shockingly good value. Look out for this on any list of wines by the glass, although ordering a bottle is also a good bet. It ages longer than some top wines, so give it some time in the glass to open up. The most cerebral wine on this list, Cubillo often shows balsamic notes and is a good introduction to appreciation of López de Heredia’s unique style.
Palacios Remondo La Montesa
The most unusual wine on this list, La Montesa is a Garnacha from Rioja Oriental, the eastern portion of Rioja where this grape thrives. Spanish wine legend Álvaro Palacios is most famous for bottles with four digit prices, but this is consistently one of Spain’s best value wines. Fresh and delicious, this is perfect with tapas or to accompany whole meals. The use of Garnacha instead of the usual Tempranillo gives La Montesa a lighter and less tannic character than many Riojas.
Bodegas Teodoro Ruíz Monge Monge-Ruiz
The first wine on this list without oak, Monge-Ruiz is a great example of the carbonic maceration reds that dominate the pintxos bars of Rioja and the Basque Country. This is pure fruit, but made with great care in the vineyard and the winery. Teodoro Ruíz Monge was a pioneer in bottling these traditional young wines in Rioja, which have been consumed and sold locally for generations.
Germán Blanco La Bicicleta Voladora
A young wine without aging in oak from young multiregion talent Germán Blanco, this is pure freshness made from Tempranillo and a bit of white Viura. This is a good wine to try to get introduced to the new, vineyard-focused wines being made in Rioja now, but it’s also just plain fun. The freshness from the Viura means this can pair with surprising dishes, making it a popular choice among sommeliers in Spain.
Artuke Pies Negros
Brothers Arturo and Kike of Artuke make some of the finest single-vineyard wines in the Rioja, but they also remain loyal to tradition and good value wines. The grapes for Pies Negros are foot-trodden as was common in Rioja before modern technology arrived. It’s a very fresh wine with a welcome depth and complexity. Perfect for pairing with even complex dishes, a friendly, flexible wine that punches above its weight.