What is Spanish Rioja wine?
What Is Rioja? Rioja is a Denominación de Origen Calificada (D.O. Ca) wine named after the La Rioja province in northeast Spain, where the wine is made. The majority of Rioja wine is red (tinto), but it can also be white (blanco) or pink (rosado), and sometimes even sparkling, although this is uncommon.
Is Rioja a good wine?
Rioja makes some amazing wines. It has long done so. Taste a mature gran reserva from a classic vintage like 1964 or 1970, and you are in the presence of something sublime, something that ages as well as any red wine on the planet.
What is Rioja wine taste?
Rioja Tasting Notes Overall, flavor notes include cherry, plum, dill, vanilla, and leather. Rioja can also be made as a white wine using Viura, Malvasía, and/or Garnacha blanca grapes, though this is much less common.
Is Rioja wine dry or sweet?
Is Rioja Dry Or Sweet? When it comes to the profile of Spanish Rioja, it offers overall a slightly sweeter and less dry experience for most. The acidity tends to be mostly high but there are varieties that offer both low acid and lower tannins depending on who the vintner is.
What is a good Spanish Rioja?
1. Rioja Gran Reserva. Perhaps the most famous of all Spanish red wines, Rioja Gran Reserva is the pinnacle of the Rioja appellation. Aged for a total of five years before release, these wines are usually based on the Tempranillo variety.
Is Rioja similar to Cabernet Sauvignon?
Similar to cabernet-based blends from Bordeaux, Rioja offers bright acidity and firm tannins that make it a terrific food wine. Fans of ripe and polished cabernets from Napa, Sonoma or Coonawarra can look to Ribera del Duero where richer red wines are made exclusively from tempranillo.
When should I drink Rioja?
Generic Rioja is typically best drunk young (within two years of release). Crianza is also meant for casual drinking, but it’s a step above what many people normally drink on a daily basis.
What do you drink with Rioja?
Rioja is known for its easier-drinking Tempranillo-based reds which are traditionally paired with local roast pork, chorizo and aged cheese. But for a Gran Reserva Rioja, Cruz recommends trying higher protein meat, and his top pairing suggestion is grilled pigeon with white truffle.
Why is Rioja so good?
Wine from Rioja is known for its structure and tannins, similar to Cabernet Sauvignon, but it also has a fruity character. This makes it perfect for drinkers who love Cabernet but are also looking for the dominant cherry flavor that’s often present in wines made from Pinot Noir.
Is Rioja a heavy wine?
Rioja Alta lies to the West, mainly on high ground, and produces lighter wines. Rioja Alavesa lies to the East. The warmer and dryer weather generally produces darker wines with a rich quality. Rioja Baja lies to the warmer South and delivers much thicker bodied wines, including the Garnacha.
Is tempranillo the same as Rioja?
Tempranillo, has been known as the backbone of Spain’s most noble wine region, Rioja, for many generations. Often blended with local grapes Garnacha (Grenache) and Mazuela (Carignan), Rioja reds have been Spain’s signature wine for almost two hundred years.
What is the Spanish equivalent of Cabernet Sauvignon?
Spanish Wines Similar to Cabernet Sauvignon To match the world’s most prominent red grape, you must try the most acclaimed grape in Spain: Tempranillo. The noble red grape plays a stellar role in Rioja and Ribera del Duero, but also Toro and many other DOs around the country.