5 Big Differences: Ribera Del Duero v. Rioja

                 Although both districts are Tempranillo-centric, the wines of the Ribera del Duero                                                                      are very different from the Rioja 

Spain’s Rioja wine area was discussed in the last Blog.  Today, we’ll focus on the neighboring Ribera Del Duero (RdD) district.  The RdD, like the Rioja, produces high quality, complex wines that have great aging potential.  While both of the wine regions are located at approximately the same latitude and only a few hours drive from one another, they are distinctly different.   Below are five significant differences between the two rock-star districts.

    The Duero River (Douro across the border in Portugal) exerts a huge influence on the RdD's terroir

1.     Terroir

Both the RdD & Rioja have major rivers that moderate their climates.  The RdD, traversed for 70 miles by the Duero River, is a 3,000 foot high plateau with baking hot summers and freezing cold winters which are tamed by this river.   Unlike the Rioja, there is no maritime influence from the Atlantic.  Furthermore, in contrast to the Rioja, the RdD’s soil is clay, silt & limestone.

                     RdD wines are more masculine than the Rioja's softer style wines

          2. Wine Characteristics

The extreme climatic conditions coupled with the heartier soils of the RdD translate to wines that tend to be more muscular than those of the Rioja.  RdD wines are typically from riper grapes of darker fruit with higher alcohol potential.  Due to its terroir, the RdD also has more assertive flavors (think black cherry & blackberry), while the Rioja offers softer red fruit flavors such as strawberry.

3.     Grapes

 Tempranillo is King in both the RdD and the Rioja.  In the RdD, however,         Tempranillo is called Tinto Fino (an actual local varietal of Tempranillo that has   adapted to the harsh terroir).  In contrast to the Rioja, the RdD also uses Cabernet   Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec for blending.

The official seal guarantees authenticity for the consumer that wine is from the RdD wine region

4.     Wine Laws

     The RdD is a wine infant in comparison to the Rioja.   The Rioja’s wine laws were established in 1925 while the RdD did not launch its regional rules until 1982.  While the Rioja is entrenched with nearly a century of laws, the new kid on the block is thinking out of the box and pushing the envelope for new ideas such as single vineyard wines.  

5.     Amounts & Types of Wine Produced

The RdD produces 98M bottles annually, however, the Rioja produces a whopping 350M bottles.  While both wine districts are red-centric producers, the RdD’s production of red wine accounts for 97% of its total.  In contrast, the 86% of the Rioja’s wines are red.   

Stay tuned for the next Blog which will showcase the wines of the Toro region that Wine-Knows' travelers will also be visiting on the October tour of Northern Spain.

New Laws for French Restaurants

The French have laws to protect the origin of wine grapes (e.g. only those grown in Bordeaux can be used in Bordeaux wine), cheeses (e.g. only cows from the town of Roquefort can be used in this coveted cheese), along with a host of other food products including olives, honey, and even chickens. The French senate has now voted in another law having to do with origin, however, this one will force restaurants to distinguish between food cooked on the premises versus made elsewhere.

The impetus for this legislation is to preserve France’s gastronomic heritage and reverse an alarming trend for chefs to take short cuts in the name of Euro’s.   Data suggests that >30% of France’s 100,000 restaurants use industrially prepared food for some of the dishes on their menus.  The legislation is also a wake-up call to diners that all is not what it appears. 

The French have a marche (market) mentality…the blue plate special (menu du jour), available in most every restaurant, represents what is fresh in the market that day.  Expectations are that the menu is in tune with the season or that of the “day’s catch.”  Diners would be horrified to know that there’s a good possibility that one of their dishes was possibly frozen and purchased several days (or weeks) before from an industrial supplier hundreds of kilometers away.  One such “ready-made” company, for example, offers more than 3,400 dishes.

The new law will force French restaurants to identify on their menu which dishes are made on premises.  Fait maison (made in house) will identify what is made at the restaurant.  Without this designation, diners will know it was brought in from elsewhere.

The new legislation passed with a close vote.   Economics were the biggest culprit.  Restaurant owners vow that dining prices will escalate due to their increasing labor costs of making dishes fait maison.  But, others maintain that the new law will save the bistro and encourage demand for freshly prepared food.  All of this is occurring, however, while fast food consumption is growing and the cost of living in Frances continues to increase.

Viva la France!

The Super Super-Tuscans

Are you a rule breaker?  If so, you’ll love the story about the birth of Super Tuscan wines.  First released in the 1960’s, these renegade wines shocked the Italian wine industry by blatantly breaking the country’s highly regimented wine laws.  The story goes something like this…

                                                                               

In 1944 the owner of well-regarded winery in Tuscany visited his friend Baron Rothschild in Bordeaux.  He returned to Tuscany with cuttings of the Baron’s Cabernet Sauvignon, Cab Franc and Merlot vines.  After > 20 years of experimenting with the French varietals, the wealthy Italian decided to sell this wine.  But, there was one huge problem.  The wine laws of Tuscany prohibited selling any wine that was not made from Sangiovese grapes.  The only way around the laws was something unthinkable at the time.

In the 1960’s only Tuscany’s lowest level wines were exempt from the “only Sangiovese” rule.  These poor quality wines were called “table wines.”   The only way to market another varietal was to declare the wine a “table wine.”   In 1968 the iconic winemaker released his French varietal wine for today’s equivalent of $100 per bottle.  The Italian wine industry went nuts.  A lowly table wine for 100 bucks? Few of even the highest rated wines in Italy at the time commanded such a price.

Shortly after the release of this rule-breaking wine, a wine journalist from England flew to Tuscany to cover the inconceivable story.  He dubbed the rebel wine “Super Tuscan” and the name stuck.  In the 1970’s three other of Tuscany’s top wine producers released their versions of Super Tuscans made from grapes other than Sangiovese. Today, there are too many Super Tuscans to count.

A lot has happened in the Italian wine world since the 1960’s.  Super Tuscans have won just about every award given internationally, including the Wine Spectator’s number one wine in the world.   The Italian government even amended its wine rules by creating a special category for the Super Tuscans called I.G.T. Super Tuscans have also given rise to renegade wines in other parts of Italy such as the Super Venetians. 

So other than a non-Sangiovese wine, what else is different about a Super Tuscan? Super Tuscans represent an international style of wine-making.  They are boutique blended wines made in small quantity, and are usually aged in new French oak barrels.  They are also expensive.  Some of my faves include Masseto, Saffredi and Ornellaia.  Should you be coming on the 2015 private villa tour to Tuscany you will have ample opportunity to taste several Super Tuscans.

Prosecco is CROATIAN in Origin !

DNA technology is responsible for apprehending criminals, curing diseases that were once thought incurable, as well as finally putting to rest the misleading origin of many of the world’s wine grapes.  Prosecco, an increasingly popular Italian sparkling wine, is one of the latest to have its birthplace accurately identified…and it’s not Italy!

First things first.  Prosecco is the name of the grape, but it’s also the name of the bubbly.  This wine comes from the hills outside of Venice.  A few years ago, this area was granted a special status (DOCG) by the Italian government.  Similar to the Italian wine laws that protect the coveted Barolo, Barbaresco and Brunello de Montalcino, legally only grapes from the Prosecco area can be used to make the sparkler.  The law is meant to protect “knock-off” bubblies from being called Prosecco. 

Now, back to the DNA findings.  The Prosecco grape has been shown through genetic analysis to come from Croatia…probably the Istrian Peninsula which is contiguous with Italy.  (After World War I Istria actually became part of Italy, but it was given to Yugoslavia post World War II.  Yugoslavia was later carved up and the Istrian Peninsula became part of Croatia.)   Prosecco’s Croatian origin has caused quite a scandal in the European Union (EU).   The new Italian wine laws granting a protected place of origin (DOCG) to Prosecco have mandated that Croatia’s “Prosec” (a sweet wine) must change its name to something else as it’s too similiar to the protected name of Prosecco.  How ironic is that?  The grape ends up being Croatian by birth, but the Croats have to change the name of their wine to accommodate Italy’s wine laws.

The 2014 tour to Croatia has the option of starting in Venice.  Come have a Bellini (Prosecco mixed with peach juice)  with us on the Grand Canal, and then we’ll hop a short ferry to the Istrian peninsula where we’ll sample their Prosec….and we’ll certainly not touch the subject of EU politics.