La Rioja Wine Guide
I’ve been working on a trip to Madrid and La Rioja for a group of friends taking a wine getaway, so my mind has been on wine country for a while! As a travel advisor, part of the importance of actually having visited the places I send clients to is knowing exactly what questions or problems might arise– from the biggest flight issues to the smallest communication issues. So as I’ve worked away on this fantastic wine trip, I realized that when we visited La Rioja ourselves in 2020, we didn’t know the first thing about what to actually order– in Madrid, we’re used to ordering either a glass of Rioja or Ribera wine if we want red; an Albariño, Verdejo, or Rueda if we want white. In La Rioja, the game is totally different– ask for a “glass of Rioja,” and you’ll raise some eyebrows or at least coax some chuckles from even the sternest barman. Here’s your primer on ordering wine in La Rioja:
Joven: Meaning “young,” these are wines that have spent little-to-no time aging in oak barrels.
Crianza: “Upbringing.” Think of these as toddler wines, as opposed to the baby jovens. A red Crianza wine in La Rioja has to have spent 24 months aging, and at least 12 of those in barrel.
Reserva: This one’s pretty easy to translate– “reserve.” A red Reserva in La Rioja has spent 36 months aging with at least a year in barrel.
Gran Reserva: Takes Reserva a step farther! In La Rioja a Gran Reserva red will have 60 months aging with at least 2 years in barrel.
Roble: “Oak.” A young wine that has spent a short time in oak.
Bodegas R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia
Some other helpful terms for ordering:
For a glass of wine– una copa de vino tinto (red) or vino blanco (white). The #1 rookie mistake when ordering wine in Spain is to ask for vino rojo– it’s tinto!
And, in parts of La Rioja, like Logroño, try asking for un chato de vino– a smaller, squatter glass with less wine in it, making it easier to meander from bar to bar trying different tapas.
At the end of the day, what you decide to drink is up to your taste– of course Crianzas will be less expensive than Reservas, though all of these wines are likely to be less expensive than when you order them back in the US. And remember to enjoy them surrounded by good company and good food, the true Spanish way. Salud!