RIOJA

La Rioja (from Rio Oja) is an autonomous community and province in north central Spain, along the Ebro river which flows east into the Mediterranean a bit south of Barcelona. Its capital is Logroño. It covers part of the Ebro valley towards its north and the Iberian Range in the south.

The area has been settled since at least the Neolithic, and the Romans encountered several indigenous groups including the Berones and the Vascones as they pushed west from the Mediterranean coast. After some 700 years as part of Roman Hispania Tarraconensis, the region was conquered by the Visigoths, and was then invaded by the Muslim Arabs on their push up into today’s France, where they were finally stopped by Charlemagne’s father Charles “The Hammer” Martel at the Battle of Tours in 732. Several centuries later, the region became part of the Kingdom of Pamplona, which itself was absorbed into the Kingdom of Castile. From the eighteenth century the Rioja region remained divided between the provinces of Burgos and Soria, until in 1833 the province of Logroño was created, changing the name of the province to La Rioja in 1980 as a prelude to its constitution under a single provincial autonomous community in 1982.

The region includes the Ebro Valley and the flanks of the Iberian System to the south, with its seven valleys that make up the viticultural area. Across the river to the north lies the Rioja Alevesa (adjacent to the province of Aleva), and the knife-edged Sierra de Cantabria. The geology is complex but is dominated by limestone- and clay-derived soils. The Rioja Baja has richer soils and produces less refined wines, while the Rioja Alta and the Rioja Alevesa have thinner soils and produce elegant, aromatic wines.

Rioja: Wines

Viticulture in the area was introduced by the Celtiberians in the Bronze Age, expanded by the Phoenicians and then greatly expanded by the Romans after their defeat of the Phoenicians during the Punic Wars (264-146 BCE) and subsequent absorption of Carthage’s Iberian territories. Viticulture was continued under the Visigoths, and after a pause during the Arab occupation, resumed under monastic control as the Catholic Kingdoms pushed south, eventually to Granada. Legal recognition of Rioja as a designated wine region dates to a decree of the King of Navarra & Aragon in 1102.

The primary grape varietals for Rioja are Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano for the reds, and Viura (Macabeo), Malvasia and Garnacha Blanca for the white. Tempranillo usually dominates the reds. In 2007, several other indigenous and international varieties were legalized, but Tempranillo and Garnacha still dominate the more classically-styled reds.

CONDE DE TRESAGUAS

Conde de Tre4saguas is a project of Vinedos de Aldeanueva, a large group of wineries and vineyard holdings operating throughout Castilla La Mancha and Castilla y Leon.

Their Bodega de Aldeanueva was founded in 1956 to produce fine Rioja wines, and is located in Aldeaneuva de Ebro in the Rioja district.

Conde de Tresaguas are classic Riojas, made predominantly of Tempranillo. The wines are juicy, bright and silky with a great elegance and long, even finish. The Joven, their most forward wine, is 100% Tempranillo.