New grape varietals allowed in Rioja
How ironic that the same week I should heap praise upon the Blanco de Remelluri, a five-grape white blend that includes Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc—and which has been allowed to call itself Rioja because its constituent grapes were planted before the grapes were officially outlawed—the OIPVR (Organización Interprofesional del Vino de Rioja), the region’s marketing and regulatory body, should approve the use of three new white grapes in Rioja beginning with the 2007 vintage: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Verdejo.
The news was reported in an article written by John Radford on January 16, and appeared on Decanter.com. Click here to read the article.
Somewhat taken aback at first, upon further reflection I think the approval of new white grape varietals in Rioja—yes, even Chardonnay—is not such a bad thing at all. The 49% ceiling precludes the outcome traditionalists fear the most: 100% Chardonnay Rioja butterballs indistinguishable from their counterparts in California or Australia.
No matter how you slice it, Viura, the dominant white grape of Rioja, has its limits.
The Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia Blanco from López de Heredia in Rioja Alta, with 15% Malvasia and aged for a staggering number of years before release is, of course, the great exception; it’s one of the world’s most food friendly and seductive white wines. I don’t think María José and Mercedes will be adding Verdejo to their white blend anytime soon; their unwavering commitment to tradition—bolstered by ardent fans among wine lovers and the wine media elite around the world—means that the bodega’s white, reds, and rosados will remain blessedly impervious to outside permutations for a long time to come.
As much as I enjoy some barrel fermented/barrel aged Rioja whites (Muga, Palacios Remondo, the hard-to-find but delightfully smoky Sonsierra Blanco), for these guys, vinification is the thing, not necessarily soil specificity. My hope is that, under the new rules, bodegas with access to high elevation vineyards in Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa would allow new varietals to express themselves without the undue influence of French oak—let the earth have its say, so to speak. Verdejo has done remarkably well in Rueda as a Viura substitute, made into exuberant unoaked wines with dazzling acidity; I am particularly eager to see how this grape will do in the extraordinary microclimates of northern Rioja.
As I outlined in my last post, I am a fan of the Blanco de Remelluri, a glowing example of a modern winery harnessing “foreign” varietals, high elevation vineyards (800m), and judicious oak aging to create a white wine of substance and focus. I might wonder what it would taste like without oak at all, but the wine has tons of merit.
If that’s the future of white Rioja, as long as Tondonia keeps on keeping on like a bird that flew, it sounds good to me.
April 2nd, 2008 at 7:45 am
Generally I agree with your points. White Rioja is, and should be, all about Viura. Malvasia works well with it, Allende Blanco can be superb. However Viura can make such good wine, Placet from Herencia Remondo is 100% Viura. Adding Chardonnay or some such would only dilute the very Riojaness of the wine.
Likewise with the reds. Rioja has a fantastic palate of varieties that I really don’t understand why producers bother with Cabernet etc. I recently tried Marqués de Vargas Private Reserva and just couldn’t see the point at all. It had lost it’s soul.