Rioja's Conspiracy to Keep You Drinking Wine
-crianza, reserva, and gran reserva decoded
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We talked about Tempranillo in the Ribera del Duero article, but today we are talking about Tempranillo in its indigenous region of Rioja. Rioja is Spain’s oldest sub-region, established in 1925.
I visited both regions and thought they were both beautiful, but Rioja in particular had a sense of vastness that is quite stunning. For those considering visiting Spanish wine regions, it is definitely a recommended option.
Rioja is in northern Spain. The Ebro River is the region’s largest body of water and flows southeast longitudinally through Rioja towards the Mediterranean. It has many tributaries, one of which is the River Oja - “Rio Oja” in Spanish. This river is the origin of the name Rioja, combining the words into one!
Fun useless fact!
Rude.
The Sierra de Cantabria mountains give a fortress like presence to the North. Fortress is a fitting term, as those mountains protect Rioja vineyards by moderating the impact of the Atlantic weather.
I thought we were going to talk about Tempranillo.
Indeed, Tempranillo is by far the most planted black grape in Spain and is around 80% of Rioja’s total plantings. As a result, Rioja produces predominantly red wines - the focus of this article.
Tempranillo’s characteristic early ripening is the source of its name, with “temprano” meaning “early” in Spanish. It is also a favorite grape for economic reasons. It is a high yielding vine, so it has the capacity to make larger quantity of wine for a given land area compared to other grapes. However, quantity rarely equals quality. So higher quality producers limit yields to maintain aroma and flavor concentration and structure.
Some Tempranillo wines are single varietal wines (100% Tempranillo) but Tempranillo is typically blended with other grapes in Rioja.
Say what? I thought Rioja reds were 100% Tempranillo!
They are mostly blended, although what may confuse you is that in EU countries, the wines only have to contain a minimum of 85% Tempranillo to have Tempranillo alone on the label.
Okay wow – interesting. What are the other allowed Rioja black grapes?
Garnacha, Graciano, and Mazuelo, the latter called Cariñena in other Spanish regions and Carignan in France. Note there are some 100% Garnacha wines made in Rioja, and they are delicious too!
Okay that is new to me too!
You may wonder what the words Crianza, Reserva, and Gran Reserva mean on Rioja labels. Some people assume it is the name of the grape.
I did.
In fact, they are the names of ageing categories and refer to a wine’s minimum ageing requirement. To keep it simple I will only focus on red wines, but the terms are also used for white, rosé, and sparkling wines too.
Here is a table summarizing these three different ageing categories.
The minimum total ageing must include a portion of time ageing in oak barrels of 225 litres. In the case of Reserva and Gran Reserva wines, additional bottle ageing is required too. It is up to the producer to choose how the wine is aged for the remaining time beyond the oak and bottle minimums. Some producers may exceed the minimum oak or bottle ageing times to achieve the desired style.
Firstly Crianza, which appropriately means ‘raising’, or ‘nurturing’ in Spanish, is the ageing category that requires the least amount of total ageing at 2 years minimum, with one of those years ageing in oak, but it has no required bottle ageing.
Although Reserva also only requires 1 year minimum in oak, it requires a minimum of 6 months of bottle ageing, and its total minimum ageing is greater than Crianza at 3 years. Gran Reserva, meaning ‘great reserve’, has the longest minimum ageing requirements at 5 years total with a minimum of 2 years each in oak and bottle.
But keep in mind, some producers do not follow this system despite the wines having undergone ageing.
So, are you saying that if a Rioja wine does NOT have any of these words on the label it can still have been aged in oak?
Correct. It makes it harder to differentiate them from the Rioja wines which were not aged in oak.
They don’t make it easy do they!
Nope!
Some may perceive that these categories are indicative of wine quality, such that a Gran Reserva is generally better quality than a Reserva, which is better quality than a Crianza. However, this is not necessarily the case – they simply indicate differences in wine style. High quality wines are produced in each ageing category (or non-category).
I think these rules are just a conspiracy to drive me to drink more … speaking of which!
This week’s featured wine is a Reserva and is a blend of 50% Tempranillo, 30% Graciano, and 20% Garnacha. It has aged 2 years in new and used French and American oak barrels and aged for at least 1 year in the bottle.
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Manzanos Reserva Rioja 2018 from Rioja, Spain
Style: Moderately full body old world red wine
Varieties: 50% Tempranillo, 30% Graciano, and 20% Garnacha
This refined high quality tannin red wine has pronounced aromas on the nose. It is complex on the palate with notes of strawberry, black currant, red and black cherry and plum, stewed cherry, thyme, cedar, vanilla, and chocolate. It has a moderately high intensity on the palate and a persistent finish.
Best pairings: Grilled, roasted, or braised red meats including lamb, Beef bourguignon, Osso Buco, Tapas (chorizo sausage, meat stuffed mushrooms/pepper/onion, etc), Mushroom stroganoff, and Aged manchego cheese.
Serving Temperature: 16-18 degrees Celsius
Serving Tips: Definitely decant about 30 minutes.
Price: $40 Cdn
I have compiled all my wine recommendations in one place. I will do my best to keep this up to date. I also include the link(s) to the article in which the wine was featured.
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SOURCES:
Classification - consejo Regulador Doca rioja (2024) Rioja wine. Available at: https://riojawine.com/en-us/the-designation/classification/ (Accessed: 27 February 2025).
Free wine maps to download (no date) WineTourism.com. Available at: https://www.winetourism.com/wine-maps/#Maps-of-Spanish-wine-regions (Accessed: 27 February 2025).
Harding, J. and Robinson, J. (2023) The oxford companion to wine. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
Lazio map of vineyards wine regions (no date) vineyards. Available at: https://vineyards.com/wine-map/italy/lazio (Accessed: 20 February 2025).
MacNeil, K. (2022) The wine bible. New York, NY: Workman Publishing.
Pliny the elder (2025) Encyclopædia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pliny-the-Elder (Accessed: 20 February 2025).
Top things you should know about Rioja (2019) Rioja In Style. Available at: https://www.riojainstyle.com/tips-sips/top-things-you-should-know-about-rioja-wine-region-in-spain/#:~:text=La%20Rioja%20is%20an%20area,Colorado%20in%20the%20USA!). (Accessed: 27 February 2025).
Wine & Spirit Education Trust (2021) D3: Wines of the World - An accompaniment to the WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines. Version 1.2. London: Wine & Spirit Education Trust.
Wine map of Spain (no date) vineyards. Available at: https://vineyards.com/wine-map/spain (Accessed: 27 February 2025).
Wines (2022) Bodegas Manzanos. Available at: https://bodegasmanzanos.com/en/wines/ (Accessed: 27 February 2025).
I do love Rioja wines in each category. I agree with you!
Very interesting and they make it quite difficult 😉