D.O.Ca. Rioja

Rioja's geography

The oldest and most famous Spanish wine region is unduoubtedly Rioja. This "Qualified" Designation of Origin covers an area composed of parts of three Autonomous Communities in the north of Spain: La Rioja, the Basque Country and Navarre. Rioja is divided into three wine-producing areas: Rioja Alta, Rioja Baja and Rioja Alavesa.

Rioja's figures

Rioja has close to 60,000 hectares of vineyards, extending some 100 kilometres along both banks of the Ebro. Annual production is about 400 million kilos of grapes which produce about 300 million litres of wine.

Rioja's wines

Rioja is best known for the excellence of its red wines, made primarily from Tempranillo grapes. However, Riojan production also includes a wide range of other wines, including: traditionally-aged white wines of exquisite complexity; innovative and astonishingly good barrel-fermented whites; fresh and fruity " claretes " (very pale rosés with an "onion skin" colour) and an almost endless variety of fine varietal wines (reds, whites and rosés).

You can find links to the websites of various bodegas and institutions in Rioja in our Links Page .