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The Consejo Regulador Rioja has adopted new regulations for the local wine category. Firstly, the designation was changed from "Vino de Municipio" to "Vino de Pueblo". Producers in Rioja have been allowed to write their region on the wine label since 1998 and the village or town since 1999. In 2017, the regulations were updated to give the Vinos de Municipio and Vinos de Zona (sub-regions of Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental) greater visibility on the bottle.
The change means that the 144 municipalities of all three Rioja sub-zones can now be named on the label. This is intended to communicate the terroir more clearly. At the same time, this settles a long-standing dispute between the appellation's wineries, who wanted to promote the idea of terroir. The new local wines "Vino de Pueblo" may continue to contain up to 15 per cent grapes or wine from a neighbouring village or municipality. However, it will also be possible to indicate "viñedo en" if the wine comes 100 per cent from a single municipality. The category of single-vineyard wines introduced in 2017, the "vinedos singulares", and the vinos de zona remain unchanged.
"The adopted regulation meets the producers' demand to emphasise the origin of the wines and the vineyard. It gives Rioja wineries better opportunities to emphasise their individuality," the Consejo Regulador is quoted as saying in the local Spanish newspaper Nuevecuatrouno.
(ru / Drinks Business)
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