Rioja is a wine region in Spain with a long, glorious vinicultural history.

Date: September 18, 2010

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Rioja is a region in Spain with a long, glorious vinicultural history. Rioja wine, especially the red, has been well known for centuries. The Rioja vineyards were planted even before the traditional bringers of wine, the expanding Romans, moved into the area.

Wine and vineyards have always held a special place in Spaniards’ hearts. Spain has more acreage planted than any other country. They do not produce the most wine because of their standards of quality. Their attention to detail has been documented for centuries. According to the Consejo Regulador of Rioja website: In 1635, the Mayor of Logroño banned carriages from passing along the roads next to cellars “for fear that the vibration from these vehicles might affect the juice and the ageing of our precious wines”. The board was created in 1926 to oversee the proper use of the Rioja appellation. The appellation itself was set up by royal decree in 1902.

Red Rioja
The “red Rioja” is most well known style of Rioja. Classic, bold, these wines taste mostly of their tempranillo roots and have a bright, fresh flavor to them. This goes extremely well with steak and other hearty meats. Serve red Riojas at 61F – they do not need decanting.

Rosé Rioja
The rosé version of Rioja is also fresh and strong, but has a lighter weight to it. They are predominantly Garnacha grapes, and are bright pink.

White Rioja (Rioja Blanca)
More greenish-yellow than white, Rioja Blanca has a light, fine aroma and flavor. These wines are made primarily with the Viura grape.

There are seven types of grapes used in making Rioja. Four are used for the red variety, which makes up 80% of all production. Three are used for the white variety, which is another 10%. The final 10% is rosé.

Flag of Rioja

Red Grapes
Tempranillo – gentle, berry flavor
Garnacha Tinta – peppery
Graciano – blackberry
Mazuelo – tannin

White Grapes
Viura – tart
Malvasia – nutty
Garnacha Blanca – heavy

Rioja wines can come from three subregions:
Alta
Alavesa
Baja

Anything from the Rioja region in general is labelled ‘Rioja Calificada’. Rioja is the only Spanish wine able to use the term Calificada on its label.

Rioja is also labelled for quality depending on the type of aging the wine has gone through. Typical aging marks include:

Vino de Crianza – one year in a cask, at least three years old
Reserva – three years old, at least one in oak
Gran Reserva – two years in oak plus three in the bottle

Source: http://www.wineintro.com/types/rioja.html

Clark Wine Center was built in 2003 by Hong Kong-based Yats International Leisure Philippines to become the largest wine shop in Philippines supplying Asia’s wine lovers with fine vintage wines at attractive prices. Today, this wine shop in Clark Philippines offers over 2000 selections of fine wines from all major wine regions in the world. As a leading wine supplier in Philippines, Pampanga’s Clark Wine Center offers an incomparable breadth of vintages, wines from back vintages spanning over 50 years. Clark Wine Center is located in Pampanga Clark Freeport Zone adjacent to Angeles City, just 25 minutes from Subic and 45 minutes from Manila.

Wines from Burgundy, Bordeaux, Rhone, Loire, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Alsace, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, South Africa, Chile and Argentina etc. are well represented in this Clark Wine Shop.

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