Blame it on Rioja

This was a big week for Rioja in the news. Doubtless the biggest story about Rioja this week came in Wednesday’s Dining section of the New York Times: Eric Asimov’s front page article, “Rooted in Rioja, Tradition Gains New Respect” (preceded, by just a few hours, by his blog post, “Tradition Ascendant in Rioja.”)

In his writing on a region he has made no bones about admiring, Asimov not only venerates the increasingly popular old guard, as so beautifully embodied by the uncompromisingly classic winemaking spirit of Bodegas R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia, but also argues that ostensibly opposite philosophies espoused by younger Rioja vintners like Telmo Rodríguez, who makes bold reds redolent of French oak, aren’t exactly as divergent from that of theall-about-American-oak López de Heredia clan as one would think:

Today, a growing number of smaller and younger producers are, like López de Heredia, trying to show a sense of place in their wines, by gaining control of vineyards, improving their viticulture and becoming more conscious of the ideals of terroir that have long been accepted in other wine regions…

…Mr. Rodríguez clearly respects and venerates López de Heredia. “For me, the only winery that works in an authentic way is López,” he said. “Their vineyards are still worked in a traditional way with direct links to the past.”

Asimov argues that Rodríguez’s almost obsessive dedication to finding great terroir in Rioja and stalwart commitment to the region’s traditional employment of bush vines, as opposed to the trained vines favored by a growing number of Rioja vintners (though I do think Asimov overstates its prevalence, but that’s nitpicking a bit), actually puts Rodríguez philosophically in line with his friends in Haro:

Mr. Rodríguez abhors the changes [being made to traditional Rioja viticulture], and has sought to buy old fields of bush vines, which he says are crucial to good Rioja. “We are more obsessed with authenticity than beauty,” he said.

It’s not uncommon for winemakers in Rioja producing such radically different styles of wine to express mutual respect for each other’s products, nor is it rare for them to find so much common philosophical ground, points made repeatedly by my colleague, Chris Fleming, and a state of affairs I’ve witnessed firsthand on the ground in Rioja on numerous occasions.

I also think that Asimov’s article drives home a notion that I’ve been arguing for over a year and which has become something of an obsession for me: that we, as American wine drinkers, and Rioja, as a region that cares a great deal about American drinking habits, are now in the midst—or perhaps more accurately, at the inception—of a corrective pendulum swing in taste preferences that’s gradually moving away from a fondness for the homogeneous and ultra-modern, from the absence of typicity.

While choruses of self-styled wine saviors bemoan the disappearance of ‘authenticity’ as we know it, more and more wine enthusiasts are being drawn to tradition and originality for their own sake. This growing movement, though in many ways merely the product of a natural course of collective taste evolution (think about what you drank in high school or college versus what you’re drinking these days), is nevertheless helped along by wine writers like Asimov, whose own appreciation for ‘authenticity over beauty’ is something of a philosophical pied piper to a drinking public becoming more and more sophisticated over time:

“Acceptance overseas has people here in Spain reconsidering our wines,” [María José] López de Heredia said. “There are people who want to go back again, and we are happy to teach.”

Photo:  López de Heredia’s tunnel-like calado, or limestone barrel aging room in Haro, Spain. The light at the end of the tunnel comes from an open door that lets out onto a small hill overlooking the Río Ebro. (Photo courtesy María José López de Heredia).

Asimov’s recommendations
(excerpted from “Rooted in Rioja, Tradition Gains New Respect,” New York Times, August 11, 2009)

Classic, Spicy or Delicate

Here are some of my favorite Riojas. Younger wines, often labeled crianza or reserva, can cost $15 to $25. Gran reservas can rise above $100, but more often can be found for $50 or less.

BODEGAS RIOJANAS Mellow old school Riojas. (Vintage Wines, Staten Island, N.Y.)

FAUSTINO Look for Faustino I gran reservas. (Palm Bay International, Boca Raton, Fla.)

HERMANOS PECIÑA Fresh, expressive wines. (José Pastor/Vinos & Gourmet, Richmond, Calif.)

LA RIOJA ALTA Look for rare Viña Arana reservas. (Michael Skurnik Selections, Syosset, N.Y.)

LÓPEZ DE HEREDIA Classic Riojas in white, red and rosé. (Think Global, Santa Barbara, Calif.)

LUBERRI Delicate, pure wines. (De Maison Selections, Chapel Hill, N.C.)

MARQUÉS DE MURRIETA Graceful gran reservas. (Maisons Marques & Domaines, Oakland, Calif.)

MIGUEL MERINO Spicy, harmonious wines. (Frontier Wine Imports, Dover, N.J.)

MUGA Prado Enea is spicy; Torre Muga is richer. (Fine Estates From Spain, Dedham, Mass.)

TELMO RODRÍGUEZ Exotic Riojas. (Vintus Wines, Pleasantville, N.Y.)

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 9:08 am and is filed under Bodegas, Centenary wineries, General, Importers, Oak, Personal Travels, Rioja, Personal Travels, Spain, Red Wine, Rioja in the News, Rioja on the Web, Tradition and Innovation, United States, Viticulture, Winemakers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.