Grape & Grain | The fruit of a Rioja rebellion, ‘singular vineyard’ designation now permitted on wine labels
Following calls from prominent winemakers such as Artadi’s Juan Carlos López de Lacalle for labels to focus on geography, the Spanish wine region has introduced an overhaul – but it doesn’t go far enough for some
When Juan Carlos López de Lacalle publicly signals his disapproval, people listen. This is the man behind Artadi wines, one of the most sought-after and acclaimed bottles in the Spanish wine region of Rioja.
So when he quit the regulatory council of DOCa (Denominación de Origen Calificada) Rioja in early 2016, it caused something of an earthquake.
His reasoning, however, was no surprise to anyone who had followed his career. Ever since founding Artadi in 1985, López de Lacalle has focused on producing wines bottled according to terroir- and site-specific character in a region that only allowed one geographical designation on its labels – that of Rioja itself.
His wines, from Viña El Pisón to Valdeginés, are reflections of specific pieces of land, and Artadi displayed the information on the label even though this was against the rules.
What he was objecting to was the fact that, instead of geography, Rioja bottles its wines according to length of ageing: “joven” for young wine with low or no oak, “crianza” for one year in oak and one year in bottle, “reserva” for one year in oak and two years in bottle, and “gran reserva” for two in oak and three in bottle.