The first sparklig wine in Spain with DOCa

The Rioja region is famous for the production of extraordinary red wines, mainly aged, with a character well distinguished by the Tempranillo grape. In its desire to offer a wide broad of wine styles to consumers in a challenging market, in June 2017, the Regulatory Council authorized the production of a new style of wine covered by the DOCa Rioja: Sparkling Quality Wine. This style of wine is integrated into the white, rosé and red wines that are already made under the aura of the DOCa Rioja.

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While for many it is innovative to find sparkling wine in Rioja, for others it is not. First of all, Rioja is one of the regions where Cava can be produced outside of Catalonia. However, according to the Rioja Regulatory Council, the production of sparkling wines in the area is nothing new. "The historian D. Manuel Llano Gorostiza already cited in his book entitled Los Vinos de Rioja (1973) the Agricultural Exhibition of Madrid in 1857, where some wines from Rioja Alta and Alavesa were presented: Red, white and sparkling wines made by the method of Champagne". This mention would place the production of sparkling wines in Spain in 1857, 15 years before the sparkling wines of Sant Sadurní d'Anoia in Catalonia, which, according to their data, began to produce in 1872.

The thing is that today, the sparkling wines of Rioja are the first produced under the protection of a Qualified Denomination of Origin (DOCa) of Spain, a situation that places them in the eye of the hurricane since the expectations are very high.