Wine Wisdoms #18: The Foundation of Rioja’s Greatness

Friday, January 23rd, 2009 at 4:02:34 PM
by Josh F., Wine Enthusiast Companies

In the 1880′s when the Phylloxera epidemic hit vineyards in Bordeaux, hundreds of French families moved South to Rioja to continue their wine-making trade. They used the local grape varieties (primarily Tempranillo) but they brought the Bordeaux techniques of long skin maceration and oak-barrel aging. The quality of Rioja improved dramatically and today it still represents one of the great wine values in the world.

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