Category: Spanish Wine

Bodegas Familiares de Rioja leaves the Plenary Session of the Regulatory Council due to its strategic policy

The Rioja Family Winery Association withdraws from the management tables of the Denomination of Qualified Origin (DOCa) Rioja, the Plenary of the Regulatory Council, and the Interprofessional of Rioja Wine, due to its disagreement with the strategic policy, which goes against the business model of the small and medium-sized wineries.

The announcement was made public this week by its President, Eduardo Hernáiz, in an information conference, together with his Vice President and spokesperson on the Regulatory Council, Juan Carlos Sancha, and manager, Ana Jiménez, after the two assemblies of the association, which They have supported the decision, unanimously, they have indicated.

The group was established in 1991 by twenty winegrowers and small wineries in Rioja and currently has almost 70 members with 216 which are accredited in the management bodies of the Denomination of the Interprofessional and Regulatory Council tables.

This representation translates into over half of the total of the commercial branch in both management bodies. Still, its participation is limited to only 8% of this branch and 4% of the votes, as the system of representativeness of the Council.

The departure of this association from the management boards of the DOCa Rioja does not imply its abandonment of the Denomination, a region that is “the best in Spain for making wines of value and quality”, which, from its point of view, has currently lost, where volume is what prevails, the President stated.

The decision was formally communicated this week to the Rioja Wine Interprofessional Regulatory Council, the autonomous governments of La Rioja, the Basque Country and Navarra, as it is a Denomination shared by the three communities, and to the Ministry of Agriculture, as the guardian administration.

“We are Rioja, and we are going to continue being so because we have all our investments in this land and because we continue to believe in it and in its potential to make great wines,” assured the President of the Association.

However, “we do not have the capacity to redirect Rioja’s course towards a model of value, of quality”, which focuses on “sustainable viticulture and the production of quality artisanal wines”, he said.

“We are convinced – he added – that the current situation of Rioja, its wineries and winegrowers, would be very different if the policy followed in recent years had been more concerned with protecting the value of the grapes, the wines and the territory, than to produce more grapes and wine to bring Rioja to its current situation.”

Currently, the DOCa Rioja is going through “one of the biggest surplus crises in its history, sending wines to distillation,” said Hernáiz, who added that, “despite the fact that we have been producing clearly more grapes than we are capable of since 2017 to sell, large companies continued asking for new plantations until very recently.”

For his part, Sancha, one of the oldest members of the Plenary Council, has said that the historical model of the social distribution of the vineyard and wealth is being broken in favor of industrial companies, for which the bills continue to come out, among other aspects, because they sell wines from numerous sources, not only Rioja, as well as liqueurs and spirits.

“We find ourselves unable to change a business model that we do not share, since it is based on the production of wine for food shelves at prices with which small and medium-sized wineries cannot compete,” Sancha states.

The president of the Regulatory Council, Fernando Ezquerro, has conveyed to the association his interest in changing the representation system, but there is no concrete proposal and until there is a modification, which will have to be in the next elections in 2025, Bodegas Familiares will not participate in the decisions of these management bodies.

Source: https://agroinformacion.com/

 

Rioja Adds 15 New ‘Singular Vineyards’

A new order from the Ministry of Agriculture from the Government of Spain recently published in the BOE (APA/873/2023) adds 15 new wine-growing areas of the Rioja Qualified Designation of Origin with the qualitative distinction of “Viñedo Singular”.

The Rioja Qualified Denomination of Origin currently has 148 “Singular Vineyards” in a total area of ​​more than 246 hectares.

The “Singular Vineyard / Viñedo Singular” [Incorporated in 2017] rating is directly linked to the terroir. They were defined as wines from vineyards with a series of unique characteristics and quality guarantees: being over 35 years old; yields not exceeding 5,000 kg. per hectare for red varieties; 6,922 kg. per hectare for white varieties; and is limited to 65 liters per 100 kg. of grapes.

Fernando Ezquerro, President of the DOCa Rioja Regulatory Council states “The initiative demonstrates the Denomination’s commitment to provide differentiation resources to operators to value the specific origin of their product.”

Wine made from “Viñedos Singulares” also has to pass a second qualitative tasting, the first, freshly produced, and the second, just before it is marketed,  it must be considered excellent by a committee of tasters.

The back labels will also mention “Viñedo Singular” which will allow consumers to have the guarantee that the characteristics described are certified by the Regulatory Council.

Here is the list of the 15 new Singular Vineyards: https://shorturl.at/dewF3

Jerez is Spain’s #1 Wine Tourism Destination

The latest report from La Asociación Española de Ciudades del Vino (ACEVIN) reveals that Marco de Jerez is the Spanish wine destination that has received the highest number of visitors in 2022.

Wine tourism in Spain experienced a post-Covid-19 pandemic boost in 2022, with the number of tourists travelling around the ‘wine routes’ of Spain reaching 2,487,255, 51.59% higher than that of 2021 (1,640,800), though the 2022 result was still only 80% of the last pre-pandemic figure.

Last year’s tourist visits to wineries and wine museums are believed to have generated €75,481,646 for the economy, 39% above the 2021 level, but still 12% short of the 2019 level.

Around 80%, were domestic travellers, though overall proportion of international visitors has increased year-on-year, from 15.14% to 20.4%.

The five wine routes that received the highest number of visitors were as follows (in descending order):

  • Marco de Jerez: 333,781
  • Rioja Alta: 313,974
  • Ribera del Duero: 281,918
  • Penedès: 262,693
  • Rioja Alavesa: 234,101

Given Andalusia’s warm weather, interesting history, and beautiful landscapes, combined with fortified Spanish wines, it makes sense that Sherry country would certainly appeal to travellers.

As far as the routes which attracted the highest percentage of international visitors, these include: Gran Canaria: 66.5%; Alicante: 41.5%; and Penedès: 38.5%.

The most popular time to travel to these regions was October, when many producers have finished their harvests, followed by August, when the beaches of the country’s Mediterranean coast are lined with overseas visitors.

Research Findings: High-Power Ultrasound Improves the Quality of Spanish Rosé Wine

A recent study by Spanish researchers concluded that ultrasound improves wine quality by shortening maceration time.

In 2019, The International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) approved the use of ultrasound to favor the extraction of grape compounds, its application in obtaining superior quality red wines has been widely studied.

Spanish researchers have turned their attention to rosé, a booming market that has experienced strong growth over the past 15 years. A research team from the University of Castilla-La Mancha, and the University of Murcia in Spain used high-powered ultrasound technology to treat crushed Monastrell grapes, a process known as sonication. They compared the resulting rosé with the wine obtained after a four-hour maceration period.

The research team described the improvements in color and sensory profile of the sonicated wine compared to the macerated sample, here are their findings: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jsfa.12757

Professor Encarna Gómez Plaza, from the University of Murcia explained the importance of the research for the wine industry. He stated that “the ultrasonic application was primarily designed to reduce maceration time in red wine vinification. However, experiments with white wines have shown that the aromatic fraction can be increased by sonicating crushed grapes. Therefore, we decided to study the effect of ultrasound on rosé wines, something that had not been done before.”

Prolonged maceration can cause oxidation of certain compounds in the wine, leading to a bitter taste and other undesirable effects.. This is where ultrasounds come in. Ultrasonic sonication causes the cells in the skin of the grape to rupture, allowing the desirable compounds to be extracted in a significantly shorter steeping time, thus reducing the adverse effects of oxidation.

Sensory analysis of the wines by a panel revealed that the ultrasonic rosé had superior aromas

“Sonication resulted in wines with intense aromas of red fruits and flowers, with higher scores than wines from macerated grapes,” the authors note.

Analysis of the chemical composition supported this claim: ultrasonication improved the extraction of several volatile aroma-enhancing compounds, such as terpenes, which can give off a floral or citrus fragrance.

The team hopes that this study will draw attention to the potential of ultrasonic technology to produce high-quality rosé wines. Now they are studying other applications of high-power ultrasound in the wine industry.