Rioja's regulatory body hails 2021 vintage as "very good", helped by good weather

Rioja ‘s 2021 harvest has been described as “very good” by the Consejo Regulador DICa, following a sampling of all wines produced last year under the designation.    

Over 5,0000 wines were collected from the fermentation tanks of the wineries, which then underwent rigorous testing and analysis, including both  physical and chemical analysis and subsequent tasting by a panel of 120 wine professionals.  

Pablo Franco, the director of the Board’s supervisory body praised the “excellence and complexity" of the harvest, during which “the favourable weather conditions undoubtedly conditioned the ripening and led to an end of cycle that can only be described as brilliant; the extension of the harvest period facilitated a phenolic ripening without acceleration and selective harvesting”.  

Franco also highlighted 2021 as being “synonymous with structure, colour and, of course, the complexity of Rioja itself”.  

The red wines, he claimed,  excelled in terms of the intensity of their colour, the complexity of their aroma and their ability to link their nuances to Rioja’s soil. The whites and rosés  stood out for their “undeniable capacity to evolve and improve, and their excellent aromatic definition, highlighting their freshness and balanced acidity”.  

According to Fernando Ezquerro, the president of the Control Board, “the results obtained in the 2021 vintage highlight the excellent work carried out by the vine growers and winery owners of the Designation and extol the uniqueness, the diversity and the highest standards and requirements that determine the distinctive character of Rioja in the market”.  

The Consejo also made further commitments to sustainability, with wine maker and owner of Palacios Remondo  Alvaro Palacios,setting out strategic initiatives to achieve healthy and sustainable growth in the industry. This new movement aims to preserve the wine and landscape-related heritage of the Designation and combat the uncontrolled growth of power generation projects and energy transport infrastructures in the industry.  

Rioja wines are available in more than 125 countries, with top exports markets being the UK, Germany, the US, Switzerland, Holland, Canada, Russia, Belgium, Sweden and Ireland.