Aula ingles
A glass of wine from La Rioja
I am Susana and I live in the north of Spain, in a place called La Rioja. Although it’s the smallest region in Spain. This land is famous because there are good wine and olive oil. The most famous wine is the red one.
There are many different wines according to their quality, taste, and prices. The grapes are the main ingredients, but the technique is important too. In every season, the grapes juices must be kept in wood recipients for many years.
The experience of grape growers and winemakers has resulted in a selection of those grape varieties that best adapt to the region’s climate and soils, producing wine of the highest quality. Today the blend is usually dominated by Viura, also known as Macabeo, Malvasía for oak-aged styles, and white Garnacha in small doses. Other blends permitted include Tempranillo, Maturana, Verdejo, and Turruntés.
In the past, it was not uncommon for some brands to age their red wines for 15-20 years or even more before their release. One notable example of this is Marqués de Murrieta which release its 1942 vintage Gran Reserva in 1983 after 41 years of aging. Today most bodegas have shifted their winemaking focus to wines that are ready to drink sooner with the top wines typically aging for 4-8 years prior to release though some traditionalist still age longer. The typical bodega owns anywhere from 10.000 to 40.000 oak barrels. There is a wealth of historic producers, many of whom have been making wine for centuries, but recently the region has seen the arrival of a new wave of ultra-modern bodegas that are pushing the boundaries and taking the wines to even greater heights.
One of the distinguishing features of Rioja wines is their extraordinary aging potential, something only found in great wines. Though an appropriate aging process, in which oak wood plays a decisive role, Rioja wine undergoes a favorable evolution that brings out its virtues and confers new aromas and flavors.
Tourists travel to visit the wineries for all-region. Some wineries are more than 200 years old. You can visit there and then taste some delicious wine.
The weather usually is warm in spring and summer. The best time to travel is autumn because they are a lot of parties and the landscapes are spectacular. The most important grape harvest festival takes place at the end of September in Logroño.
There are also important Romanic monuments and the first words were written in Spanish. Some monasteries have huge cloister and libraries.
Nature is interesting too for fishers who are catching fishes without killing them in the river, and for senders who are searching for routes in the mountains. You can walk, or rent a bicycle or even ride a horse. One big part of the region is a space protected by Unesco.
So, have you ever been to La Rioja or tried La Rioja’s wine? Definitely, you should!
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