Rioja Masters 2014: The medalists

Rioja has the scope, accessibility and innovation that allows the region to tick nearly every box.

Rioja-Masters-2014-JudgingFew wine regions can truly claim the sort of collective brand status that makes it a household name, but, however vague people’s understanding of its identity, Rioja has carved itself just such a coveted position. That familiarity helped the region to sell a record 277 million litres of wine in 2013, of which Spain accounted for almost two thirds.

However UK consumers’ thirst for Rioja has made it by far the region’s largest export market, accounting for 32.8m litres in 2013 – almost double that of number two market Germany.

What makes this success so striking is that consumers clearly feel confident in the style they expect from Rioja, but – as the broad spectrum of categories tasted in The Drinks Business Rioja Masters demonstrates – the reality is a diversity seen in few other wine regions. When prices range across the board, as does its signature oak influence, Rioja can mean anything from primary fruit-led styles for immediate drinking to tobacco-laced, leathery wines with 50 years ahead of them. Add to the mix its no less polarised white expressions, not to mention the ambitious but classification-defying “Vino de Autor”, and the value of a dedicated, expert assessment of this region becomes ever-more clear.

VALUE AND VARIETY

In addition to picking out individual star performers across each price bracket or category, the results of this year’s competition highlight areas where Rioja offers particularly consistent quality and value for money. The good news for consumers is that there’s plenty of both these two factors on offer at very accessible prices. For Hugo Rose MW, director of fine wine merchant Vinsignia, there were rich pickings below £10.

Ian-Waddington-Judging

Ian Waddington, group wine buyer at Gordon Ramsay Holdings

“The high marks awarded to a good range in the lowest price category continues to speak of the value for money offered by Rioja,” he observed, picking out crianza as a particular “sweet spot”. Indeed, it was crianza and reserva – an increasingly popular style in Rioja’s export markets according to the DO – that attracted the most effusive plaudits from this year’s judges. Describing these two categories as offering “always sure value”, José Godoy, restaurant manager at Arzak’s London partnership Ametsa, also highlighted the “incredible complexity” offered by mature gran reserva as he summed up: “I believe that Rioja in general has the best value for money among the best known wine regions in the world.” That certainly appears to be the view of Laithwaites’ customers, as the retailer’s consultant winemaker and senior buyer Robin Langton confirmed that Rioja is a “huge” part of its business. “We’re gaining the most traction in terms of crianza,” he reported. “For me, it’s probably the most interesting segment where you can find real value.”

Going for gold

One company stands out from this year’s winners: Rioja Alavesa group Araex, which scooped no fewer than 19 medals, including three Golds and the top accolade of Master for its Baigorri Reserva. The result marked a vindication of managing director Javier Ruiz de Galarreta’s decision in 1993 to bring together nine small or medium-sized wineries from the region into a single group. “This has been a fantastic achievement, by far the best of any company,” he rejoiced.Last year Araex Rioja Alavesa saw growth of 52%, with 10.5m bottles sold in more than 70 countries. Setting out his mission “to tell everyone about the quality of Spanish premium wine and the confidence we had in it”, Ruiz de Galarreta remains committed to staying ahead of the pack. Outlining each winery’s involvement in the “long-term innovation process that is vital to continue offering great wines” he adds: “The door is wide open to a new era full of opportunities”.

There was further praise for the region from Ian Waddington, group wine buyer at Gordon Ramsay Holdings. Declaring himself “impressed” by the overall quality of wines on show during the tasting, he asserted: “There were enough wines of real interest and which represented good value for money to ensure the region’s guaranteed presence on most wine lists”.

STRENGTH A WEAKNESS?

That’s not to suggest Rioja offers a completely consistent playground for its fans. Simon Field MW, Spanish buyer for Berry Bros & Rudd, drew a parallel with the similarly powerful regional brand of Champagne as he warned that what is in many respects an enviable position also leaves the category exposed to “mediocre quality, quite a lot of discounting, and the general impression that the winemakers cherish the reputation of the brand more than the impulse to improve the raw materials.” In his view the most rewarding categories were perhaps not the most obvious Rioja styles: its unoaked joven classification and the region’s white wines, which account for no more than 10% of total production, despite a push by the consejo in recent years to redress this balance. White Rioja also attracted emphatic praise from Rose, who noted the “exceptional” quality offered from these flights in the competition, adding: “classic white Rioja is a massively underrated category.”

For all the exceptions that exist today, Rioja remains a region that is closely associated with oak maturation. Indeed, the DO’s entire classification system is based largely upon this influence. Reassuringly therefore, judges’ feedback on this element was largely positive. “What impressed me throughout, above joven of course, was the judicious use of oak,” remarked Rose. Reviewing wines tasted during the course of the day he noted: “Oak rarely smothered the fruit component, and surprisingly we were not blasted with once-usual banana, popcorn and vanilla of overt US oak.”

With oak management given the all clear, debate centred instead on those wines that fell outside or strained the boundaries of Rioja’s traditional classification system. Agustin Trapero, head sommelier at Launceston Place, argued that producers wishing to pursue more alternative styles should avoid shoe-horning them into the official DO hierarchy so as not to create confusion among consumers. “I am not against modern styles of Rioja, in fact I think they are even necessary to be able to reach different markets and palates, but what I think is a big mistake is that those modern full-bodied Riojas are classified as crianza, reserva, and gran reserva”, he maintained. Instead, Trapero suggested, “they should be classified as Vino de Autor or Vino de la Tierra to keep the style and tradition of Rioja.”

Rioja Masters categories

RIOJA JOVEN
Young wines which typically have spent no time in oak, or just a few months maximum in barrel before release. Most Bianco and Rosado Rioja falls into the Joven category.
CRIANZA
These are Riojas which have been aged for at least two years with a minimum of 12 months in oak.
RESERVA
This category is for Riojas which have been aged for at least three years, with a minimum of 12 months in oak.
GRAN RESERVA
These are Riojas which have been aged for at least five years with a minimum of 24 months in oak.
VINOS DE AUTOR
These are winemaker’s “icon” style wines, otherwise dubbed “new wave wines” from Rioja, which carry no age statement but generally spend at least a year in barrique, frequently made from new French oak.
RIOJA 15 YEARS AND OLDER
We also included a category of old Rioja to group together older expressions for which the region is well-known. These were typically gran reservas.

From a stylistic rather than communication perspective, Clement Robert, head sommelier at London restaurant Medlar, acknowledged: “I think the more modern style split opinions.” Expressing a personal wariness of Rioja wines made “in the fashion of the New World”, he continued: “I am in the favour of high quality wine but I am not sure that high fruit extraction and 100% new oak allied with more modern techniques are what consumers expect or want from Rioja.”

PUSHING BOUNDARIES

For all this concern, at an individual level there was plenty of evidence for the successful results that producers with a more iconoclastic outlook can achieve. Indeed, Waddington noted, “I think there needs to be room for experimentation, Rioja isn’t a museum.” Meanwhile Godoy cited producers such as Amaren and Baigorri, which took home a Gold and Master award respectively, as prime examples of those producers pursuing a more modern style of Rioja. In his view, “I think it is always good to see that a region is trying to be innovative. It shows that they want to improve their products and that is beneficial for the consumers.”

However, where Godoy did express concern was in the challenge of knowing what to expect from wines in the Vino de Autor category. Typically denoting wines at the very top of a producer’s range, these wines are often used to show off a particularly good site or year but, similarly to Chianti’s Super Tuscans, are made in a way that falls outside the official requirements of their denomination. For Godoy, “the absence of regulation in the category of Vinos de Autor makes it more difficult for the consumers to understand those wines.” This tension between ancient and modern, maverick and traditionalist, is hardly unique to Rioja. As demonstrated by the results, judges were happy to reward the best examples in each of these camps. Indeed, here the Masters’ emphasis not just on recruiting expert palates but encouraging discussion ensured that talent was distinguished from shallow artifice and rewarded. The medal winners here should offer some guidance to Rioja as it treads the line between exploring fresh possibilities and alienating the millions who remain loyal to this impressive brand.

ROBIN LANGTON senior buyer & consultant winemaker, Laithwaites Wine IAN WADDINGTON group wine buyer, Gordon Ramsey Group JOSÉ GONZÁLEZ GODOY head sommelier, Ametsa, Halkin Hotel CLEMENT ROBERT head sommelier & wine buyer, Medlar GABRIEL STONE managing editor, the drinks business PATRICK SCHMITT editor-in-chief, the drinks business HUGO ROSE MW director, Vinsignia AGUSTIN TRAPERO head sommelier, Launceston Place SIMON FIELD MW buyer, Berry Bros & Rudd

L-R: ROBIN LANGTON senior buyer & consultant winemaker, Laithwaites Wine; IAN WADDINGTON, group wine buyer, Gordon Ramsey Group; JOSÉ GONZÁLEZ GODOY, head sommelier, Ametsa, Halkin Hotel; CLEMENT ROBERT, head sommelier & wine buyer, Medlar; GABRIEL STONE managing editor, the drinks business; PATRICK SCHMITT, editor-in-chief, the drinks business; HUGO ROSE MW director, Vinsignia; AGUSTIN TRAPERO head sommelier, Launceston Place; SIMON FIELD MW buyer, Berry Bros & Rudd

About the competition

The Rioja Masters is a competition conceived and managed by the drinks business and an extension of its successful Masters series for Champagne, fortified wines and grape varieties from Chardonnay to Pinot Noir. The competition is exclusively for Rioja and comprised over 100 entries, which were judged by a selection of highly experienced tasters using Schott Zwiesel Cru Classic glasses supplied by Wine Sorted.
The top Riojas were awarded Gold, Silver or Bronze medals according to their result, and those wines that were deemed by the judges to be outstanding received the ultimate accolade – the title of Rioja Master.
The wines were tasted on a single day at York & Albany in London.

Global Pinot Noir Masters 2015: the results

There’s little doubt that Pinot Noir is fashionable these days, but such a sensitive grape’s transition into the mainstream is hardly guaranteed.

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By bringing together over 350 examples from 16 countries to be scrutinised by some of the trade’s most experienced MW and MS palates, The Drinks Business Pinot Noir Global Masters offered a perfect opportunity to assess the status quo.

One thing the results made abundantly clear is that top quality examples of this grape variety can now come from just about any of the world’s major wine producing regions. Represented among this year’s gold medal winners were New Zealand, South Africa, Austria, Australia, Chile, Germany and Italy. Although both California and Oregon failed to achieve the same level of accolade as last year, they were nevertheless well represented in the medal table along with Romania, France, Argentina, Canada, Bulgaria, Spain, Switzerland and indeed England.

“My overall impression is that the competition is hotting up,“ remarked Sebastian Payne MW, buyer for The Wine Society. “There seem to be more and more places all over the world getting things right.” While noting the particular strength of New Zealand, whose clutch of gold medals and a Master proved its ongoing prowess, Payne added: “Countries like South Africa and Chile show steady improvement, and there were some surprisingly good wines at under £10 a bottle, which used to be a price point to avoid for Pinot Noir.”

Nevertheless, the feeling among most of the panel chairs was that the perfume and charm that are so intrinsic to Pinot Noir’s appeal tend to emerge at higher price brackets. “It is a tough ask to expect to produce good Pinot at under £10 a bottle with the UK tax regime and generally you need to set the sights a bit higher if you want to be rewarded,” commented Mark Savage MW, managing director of UK merchant Savage Selection. “There are certainly some possibilities at around £15,” he continued. “At over £25 then you deserve to see a good depth of Pinot character.” Excitingly for fans of this variety who are prepared to pay a bit more to indulge their passion, there was certainly no shortage of successfully ambitious examples at these upper price points. Indeed, observed Payne pointedly, “Burgundy seems too scared to enter many wines; perhaps they have more and more reason to watch the competition.”

Tender loving care

4So what is it that winemakers around the world are getting right to produce such an abundance of high quality styles?

According to the drinks business editor in chief Patrick Schmitt, “Something positive that was immediately apparent among this year’s entries to our Pinot Masters was a more sensitive handling of the grape. Not only did we rarely encounter harsh tannins from heavy-handed extraction methods or too much new oak, but there appeared to be a better balance between fruit sweetness and freshness among 2015’s entries.” What’s more, he noted, “fewer examples had fallen victim to the raisined flavours or alcohol burn that can result from picking too late in a warm climate.”

This analysis was echoed by Payne, who pointed to “much subtler wood treatment than I remember from last year, with a touch of American oak working quite successfully on some lower-priced wine.”

For those producers working to make good quality Pinot Noir at the commercially important sub-£10 price point, consultant Richard Bampfield MW had the following advice: “Restrict yields as much as possible, don’t try too hard on extraction and try to add an oak component, even if small.” More generally, Savage highlighted the right picking date as being “crucial” for producers’ success. “A day or two too early and you will get green tannins, while a day or two beyond optimum and you may have prune juice,” he warned.
For all the evidence that excellent Pinot Noir can come from very different corners of the world, he linked this picking decision closely to the importance of finding the right spot to plant such a sensitive variety. “You need to be confident that the vineyard site will allow for marginal ripening with maturity in the fruit that will render unnecessary any correction by either chaptalisation or acidification,” insisted Savage, adding: “The vast majority of vineyard locations in the world will not be suitable.”

Forgetting their roots

2Despite the abundance of high quality Pinot Noirs emanating from different corners of the world today, Bampfield questioned the clarity with which these wines express their origin. In contrast to the deeply nuanced distinctions displayed so famously by the grape in Burgundy, he remarked: “I don’t think that national and regional differences are yet nearly as clear in Pinot as they are with grapes such as Cabernet and Shiraz.” With entries for the Masters series arranged by price bracket rather than country of origin and all wines tasted blind, Bampfield suggested that it would have been “extremely difficult” to pin down wines to specific parts of the world, “whereas, with Cabernet I think I would be more sure of my ground,” he remarked. Indeed, looking ahead to the evolution of this competition in years to come, Bampfield predicted that the line-up is likely to become “more and more interesting as new sites in the New World in particular are developed.”

That suggestion certainly opens up an exciting future direction for Pinot Noir’s international development. As this in-depth assessment of the current state of affairs demonstrated, winemakers have certainly secured a solid base of quality on which to refine their offer in ever more nuanced directions.

About the competition

In a crowded wine competition arena, The Drinks Business Global Pinot Noir Masters stands out for its assessment of wines purely by grape variety rather than region. Divided only by price bracket and, for ease of judging, whether the style was oaked or unoaked, the blind tasting format allowed wines to be assessed without prejudice about their country of origin. The wines were scored out of 100, with those gaining more than 95 points being awarded the top title of Master. Those earning more than 90 points were given a gold, those more than 85 points a silver, and those more than 80 points a bronze.

The wines were judged by a group of Masters of Wine and Master Sommeliers on 4 February at The Drapers Arms in Islington, London.

Click through to see this year’s medal-winning wines….