Video: Rioja Wine Subregions

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La Rioja has three subregions where wine is made: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alvesa, and Rioja Baja. Learn about the wine making differences in these regions from a professional wine sommelier with this free video.

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Video Transcript

Hi! I'm Mark Middlebrook. And I'm here in the Paul Marcus Wines warehouse. And in this segment, I'm going to talk about the different sub regions of Rioja, the Spanish wine growing region. Rioja has three different sub regions. Rioja Alta, this brown shaded area here. Rioja Alavesa, the two red, smaller areas at the top. And Rioja Baja, over on the Eastern and the lower side. And these are three examples of wines from those three sub regions. Rioja Baja is the largest and the hottest of the three sub regions. Generally, the wines of the least prestige, come from this area. Although, there are some very good wines that come from there. And also, some very particular good value wines. Since Rioja Vega 2001Reserva from Rioja Baha. Because of the hotter climate, you get a little more ripeness in the grapes. Which translates into more body in the wine. Sometimes more alcohol and sometimes a little less finesse. This second region is Rioja, I'm going to talk about Rioja Alavesa. This is the Northern most and the coolest of the three. And also the most minerally of the soil. So you tend to get a wine that has a lot of structure. Acidity and tannin, maybe a little more grip in the wine. A little more austerity. It's probably the most fashionable Rioja region, right now. A lot of new, young kind of, hot shot producers are making wines in this area. Including Remirez de Ganuza. This is one of the top and newer style Rioja from Rioja Alavesa. And then finally Rioja Alta which is kind of, the classic part of Rioja. It's not quite as cool as Alavesa but certainly cooler that Rioja Baja. You tend to get wines of great finesse from there. Not as rich or kind of burly as Rioja Baja. But maybe, not quite as lean and structured as sometimes as the Rioja Alavesa wines. I like drinking them all. It's just a matter of trying different things. And also understanding that many producers blend the grapes from the different regions. So integrate bottling may, may have wines from two or three of the different sub regions.