Aged vs. Young Rioja Wines

Video Transcript

"Hi! I'm Mark Middlebrook. And I'm here in Paul Marcus Wines Warehouse. And in this segment I'm going to talk about the different Rioja types based on ageing requirements. As you can see, I've got four different bottles of Rioja, red Rioja here. Representing the four different types, I'm going to talk about. This first type is called Joven. Which means young in Spanish. And it indicates that it's a wine that doesn't have any particular aging requirements. In particular, no requirements to put the wine in barrel. In a barrel for any period of time. They can do the entire wine in stainless steel tank or any other vessel. Might have it hand in the winery. You often won't see Joven on the label. But you can tell, generally because it's a very recent vintage. This one is a 2007 Albiker from Bodegas Altun. These are fresh fruity everyday wines that goes with a wide range of foods. They're not typically very complicated or very expensive. But they're very satisfying wines to drink. The next category, classification in terms of age is called Crianza or if you're Spanish you pronounce it Crianta. Crianza is a Spanish word for raising something. Whether it be a child, plant. Something you want to foster, have grow well. And turn into a good example of what it's supposed to be. And the aging requirements for Crianza Rioja are at least two years, in total. And of that two years, there has to be at least one year aging in oak barrel. So the remaining year can be in the bottle. Or the wine maker can chose to do it, a different split. As long as it's a minimum of one year in oak. That time in oak and little extra time in the bottle, gives the wine a little more complexity. Often a little more spicy character. Had just as time to develop as you know, any good wine that develops. Will tend to take on more complex flavors and more length in the finish and so on. So a little more special occasion wine. But still often, fairly affordable. And a really good example of what comes, of what people think of, when their drinking Rioja. Next category up is called Reserva or reserve. Now if you buy wines from California or from France. You'll often see, Reserve printed on the label. Or Reserve on French wines. That has no legal meaning. The wine maker or winery can choose to just stamp that on any bottle. They can choose to have it mean something for them, personally for their winery. Or it can be just advertising. In Spain, on the other hand Reserve, Reserva has legal meaning. In order to be able to put that on the label, the wine maker must age the wine at least three years in total. And of that three years, at least one of the years has to be in oak barrels. So think Crianza a bit more, you're getting generally more complexity. More spiciness, sometimes more of those leathery, gamy, earthy flavors that many people could mean prize in Rioja. But still often, not super expensive. Still pretty good value. The top tier, in terms of aging is called Grande Reserva. Obviously, meaning great reserve in Spain. These are, many people consider them to be the glory of red Rioja. The aging requirements are at least five years in total. And of that a minimum of two years in oak barrel. In addition for Grande Reserva, a good producer such as Lopez de Heredia. This wine's producer will generally make Grande Reservas only in exceptional vintages. In vintages where they get really good grapes. If it's kind of, o.k. to mediocre year. They typically won't produce the Grande Reserva. And say, put all, all the grapes into their regular Reserva and their Crianzas. I personally love drinking all these styles of wines. Have friends over for barbecue or whatever. These Govens just really go down, really easily. They're fun, they're not expensive. They're uncomplicated. They do what good everyday red wines, are supposed to do. The Crinazas and Reservas are nice dinner wines. With meat or stews or cheeses. Things where you want a little bit more complexity in the wine. And the Grande Reserva is a wonderful special occasion wine with great friends. Where you really want to enjoy, enjoy a wonderful, wonderful bottle. Like this one."