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LA RIOJA
La Rioja
The perfect triangle of wine, land and spirituality
Words: Rosario Alonso - Photography: Jose A. Muñoz and Tourisme of La Rioja
In La Rioja, the landscape smells of vine shoots, freshly baked bread and ancient stone. It is a
small land with an immense soul, one that has managed to make its history and its wine into a
single word: identity. Here, the churches guard codices that shaped the Castilian language, the
streets preserve the murmur of medieval pilgrims, and the wineries stretch underground like silent
temples. La Rioja is not visited: it is travelled slowly, with attentive eyes and palate, letting yourself
be enveloped by a culture that has fermented for centuries, like its wine.
The wine is not an industry
in La Rioja; it is its story, its
root and its horizon. Since
Roman times, the vine has
shaped its landscape and its cha-
racter. Medieval monks perfected
its cultivation; 19th-century mer-
chants elevated it to an art; and to-
day’s oenologists have turned it into
a symbol of universal quality. The
Denominación de Origen Calificada
Rioja, the first recognised in Spain,
was born from the collective effort of
winegrowers and winemakers who,
since the late 19th century, sought
to protect the identity of their wines
and guarantee their quality. In 1925
it obtained official recognition and
consolidated a pioneering system
of control in Spain. Rioja Alta, with
its Atlantic climate and the influence
of the Sierra de Cantabria, contribu-
tes freshness and ageing potential.
Rioja Oriental, broader and warmer,
offers fuller-bodied wines with gene-
rous fruit, reflecting a diverse and
fertile land.
Visiting a winery in La Rioja is an al-
most liturgical experience. Beneath
stone floors or within the silent halls
of century-old wineries, preserved by
the passing of time, the wine sleeps in
silence. The rows of barrels, the soft
lights and the scent of wood create
an atmosphere of contemplation that
invites you to pause. The oenologist
speaks of wine as if speaking of a li-
ving being, with its stages, its maturity
and its destiny, revealing a patient and
almost devotional relationship.
Riojan wine has also shaped an aes-
thetic. Its deep ruby colour, its bright-
ness in the glass, its balance between
power and softness are also meta-
phors for a land that has learned to
live with contrasts: the mountain and
the plain, the monk and the farmer, the
word and the wine — always united by
a tradition that endures.
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