RIOJA ALAVESA WINE
90% of the grapes grown in Rioja Alavesa are of the excellent tempranillo variety, which has a short vegetative cycle and ripens early, allowing the fruit to flourish under the optimum conditions afforded by the region’s geological and climatological conditions.
Wineries in Rioja Alavesa are familiar bodegas that look after the wine from the very beginning since when the grape is on the vine, until when the wine is waiting reposed and calmed in the oak barrel and finally, when the wine is in the bottle waiting to be sent to the client, reaching high quality.
Each year The Appellation d’Origine Rioja Regulating Council determines the quality of wines produced in Rioja Alavesa region, a designation of origin that is recognised as one of the best in the world. Rioja Alavesa wines include the differing types of:
- Young Wine – a well-balanced wine with fruity aromas, lightness on the palate, moderate acidity and an intense colour with violet/purple hues
- Crianza – a wine in its third year that has been aged in oak casks for at least one year
- Reserve Wine – select wines with a minimum ageing of three years between the oak cask and the bottle, with at least one year in the cask
- Grand Reserve – wines of great vintages that have aged a minimum of two years in oak casks and three years in the bottle
Following the ageing process, wines become smoother and rounder, become less intense in colour, acquire aromas of vanilla and acquire characteristics of oak determined by the length of time the wine is in the cask.
TXAKOLI WINE
The Txakoli region enjoys a humid Atlantic climate, with cooler summer temperatures (due to its proximity to the sea) resulting in a slow ripening process that gives Txakoli its fresh and fruity characteristics that is best savoured as a young wine.
White Txakoli represents most of the region’s production, but Rosé and Red varieties are now becoming increasingly popular as well.
