I want you to drink Rioja Wine!

Good news for all you Rioja wine drinkers! Due to your impeccable taste in wine, sales for Rioja wines in the U.S. rose nearly 30% in the first half of 2010. Not only are we drinking more Rioja wines, but there are a growing number of new and exciting wines from the region being imported/distributed and available all throughout the US.

According to the Consejo Regulador DOCa Rioja, total shipments in the first two quarters totaled 5.4 million bottles. Here is the percentage breakdown for each style of wine:

Cosecha/Vino Joven: +34%

Crianza: +32%

Reserva: +13%

Gran Reserva: +27%

Based on these numbers, and with the holiday season right around the corner, I would expect these numbers to rise slightly higher. With the Rioja region FINALLY getting up and not resting on it’s laurels as “the premier wine region” of Spain, I think the proof is in the pudding. Something had to be done in Rioja to remain at the top of it’s game, and I think the region is accomplishing this. With the help of various organizations such as Vibrant Rioja and Wines From Spain, I think Rioja is here to stay. There has been some concern lately from many people in the wine industry that Spanish wine might suffer a similar fate as Australian wine, but I don’t feel that this will happen. The concern is that there are too many “bulk” wines being brought in from Spain to hit that sweet $7 to $10 mark. While I completely agree that there are too many of these wines entering the market- I’m not too concerned with Spanish wine sales dropping off like Australian wines have. With more people 21+ years old drinking wine in particular, I think wines of all price ranges/styles from Spain will see a boost in sales.

Based on the numbers from the Rioja consejo, I think we’ll continue to see an increase of Spanish wines, and in particular, Rioja wines. I was most impressed with the stats about Gran Reserva wines, also a hot topic lately from Rioja. There has been some fear that Gran Reservas might go the way of the Dodo bird due to Rioja bodegas elaborating wines to hit the 90+ points from US reviewers, rather than focusing on making the best wine THEY feel possible, not reviewers. (Here is a great article that touches on this on this from Catavino.net) However, I think as more and more people are drinking Spanish wines and exploring the various regions of Spain, they are also exploring new wine styles within particular regions, such as Gran Reservas from Rioja.

My question to you, the Rioja drinkers of the world, what category of wine do you prefer- Vino Joven, Crianza, Reserva or Gran Reserva? Why?

Stay thirsty my friends…..

- Michael

We’ve just finished tying up all our loose ends and are ready to set out for our third year attending the Pennsylvania Wine Week events- with a little detour in Chicago for a Vibrant Rioja event! the three events this year are again being held in Pittsburgh, Hershey and Philadelphia, and we always look forward to making the journey to Pennsylvania. While we have attended the Pittsburgh Wine Festival and Philadelphia Wine Festivals before, we are excited to attend the Wine Festival in Hershey for the first time. If you live, work or play in either area, these events are always a fun and informative way to spend your evening tasting some amazing wines from all over the world. More importantly, all three events will be benefiting great organizations such as the Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital, Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC, UPMC Cancer Centers, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

This year we’ll be pouring some fantastic wines from Spain and Portugal. We will have several different red wines, such as crianzas from Bodegas Ondalan, Bodegas Miguel Angel Muro and Bodegas Ruiz de Vinaspre. We’ll also be featuring an amazing reserva from Bodegas Medrano Irazu, all from Spain’s famed Rioja region. (Click here for a great post on the Rioja classification system by Catavino.net) We’re also excited to feature the amazingly fresh, crisp and refreshing white and rose wines from the Vinho Verde region of Portugal. These are a real value and the region is receiving quite a bit of attention lately for it’s quality to price ratio- it’s definitely worth seeking out wines from this region! Quinta de Gomariz is a young producer from the region and is already making a name for itself by gaining 92 points for its Alvarinho and 88 Points for its Espadeiro Rose from Wine & Spirits Magazine – both were featured as “Best Buys” in the August 2009 Issue.

We’re looking forward to sharing all these wines at the events and hopefully many of you will be able to attend one of the three!

Salud,

Michael

I can’t believe how many people now live in Jackson Hole Wyoming! It seems to grow every time we return to the beautiful surroundings of the Grand Tetons. To kick off the 2009 Memorial Day weekend, the P.R. Grisley Company joined a very diverse group of people at the 31st Annual Jackson Hole wine festival.

The day started with representatives from restaurants, wine stores, and hotels joining the exhibitors for a few hours before the public joined in on the fun. For over 6 hours we presented our wines, educated new wine lovers on several unique wines from Portugal, Spain and France. We poured a white and a rose wine from Chozas Carrascal located in the Utiel-Requena region of Spain, a fantastic Douro red from Quinta de Carregosa in Portugal and red wines from Bodegas Medrano Irazu, Santiago Ijalba and Ondalan in Rioja. We also poured the Chateau de Monbadon from Bordeaux and the Cuve Sabine from the Cotes du Rhone region in France. Everyone seemed to enjoy the diversity represented at the table, and they were excited to try some wines from several unique areas within the Iberian Peninsula. It was definitely one of the best-run events we have been able to participate in, and we hope to be asked back next year.

The festival was a wonderful combination of great wines, friendly people, and amazing scenery. There were over 400 wines presented from around the globe, and almost one thousand people in attendance enjoying the unique event. If you’ve never visited Jackson Hole, it’s a beautiful place filled with culture, western charm, friendly people, and some of the most amazing mountains in the US- not too mention people with great taste in wine!

–Peter

There is never a dull moment at Bodegas Medrano Irazu, where winemaker Amador Medrano Irazu always wears a smile- well, more like a smirk. He is a wiry man in his mid thirties who loves his work and is passionate about it, there is no doubt. So, it comes as no surprise that he owns some of the highest vines in all of DOC Rioja, designed his own trellis system to achieve maximum potential for his vines, and is known all over Rioja Alavesa. Some think he’s crazy, others maybe part genius/part mad scientist, but one thing is clear- he is leading the way for every producer in DOC Rioja.

As Spain continues to produce fantastic white wine from all over the country, it seems like white wines in Rioja have succumbed to the same scrutiny as their red wines- should they be made in a traditional or modern style? While you can find incredible white wines of both styles in Rioja produced mainly with the Viura variety (along with others such as Malvasia and Garnacha Blanca), they are usually overshadowed by Albarino from Galicia and Verdejo in Rueda. In response to other regions and varieties gaining more and more popularity, the Rioja Consejo Regulador has recently allowed the use of chardonnay and other non-native varieties in Rioja as well. While I’m sure this will be quite the controversy within Rioja, I worry more about the response to the addition in the US. As we’re already saturated with California Chardonnay, I just hope that the US consumer doesn’t begin to associate chardonnay with Rioja. Along with Ryan and Gabriella of Catavino.net, I don’t feel there was anything wrong with the white wines being produced in Rioja- I just think they haven’t explored the full potential of what their native white varieties can achieve. In my opinion, the addition has the potential to destroy Rioja’s image, not improve it, and is only an attempt to gain some of the white wine market share being exported from Spain.

Not one to sit back and watch his beloved Rioja become eclipsed by these other regions and varieties, Amador has been experimenting with the Viura variety to determine what kind of potential this grape possesses. With his love of Tokaji, Sauternes, and sweeter Sherries, he set out to see if Viura could make a quality sweet wine. After one successful and one disastrous attempt under his belt, I guess you could say that the “third time’s a charm” as he has been granted the first late harvest, or “Vendimia Tardia” approval from the DOC Rioja. I’ve had the chance to taste both successful vintages and they are absolutely fantastic and intriguing. These wines have wonderful acidity and complexity, as well as incredible floral aromas and honey notes on the nose. While there are some producers in Rioja such as Marques de Caceres producing sweeter wines with native varieties, they have yet to receive an official guarantee from the Consejo Regulador. With Medrano receiving the first official guarantee, I hope many other producers will now realize that they literally have incredible potential growing right at their feet.

I can’t wait to see how Amador will develop and brand this groundbreaking wine in the future. Hopefully it will bring some attention back to Rioja and it’s native varieties and what can be accomplished with a bit of imagination and hard work!

–Michael 

After wrapping up all our loose ends after nearly a month on the road, I finally found some time to sit down for a new post and edit the hours of footage to make a short video for everyone to enjoy. We had an absolutely incredible trip that began in Pittsburgh before moving on to Philadelphia for wine shows during the Pennsylvania Wine Week. The shows went well considering the current economic situation, and we were excited to show some new wines at both shows such as the recently available Alana-Tokaji Late harvest Furmint. This wine received wonderful responses in both cities and we were glad that everyone enjoyed it! We were also quite lucky to have Paul Sharp from Europvin join us in Philadelphia to help educate consumers about sherry, which also went over well with the crowds. I think with Paul’s amazing wealth of information we were able to change some opinions about sherry and hopefully expand some more palates.

After the Pennsylvania shows we headed to directly to Spain where we spent some time with friends in Madrid. They took us to some “secret” tapas bars around the city and introduced us to some new foods, which I’m sure we’ll try to recreate in our kitchens. I’m always amazed at the diversity of food Spain has, it seems every time I return I try at least 10 new items I’ve never had before.

We then bid farewell to our friends in Madrid, and met two purchasing agents from the PLCB at the Madrid airport and flew directly to Vigo where we stayed the evening in an amazing hotel right on the Spain/Portugal border as we all tried to recover from our jet lag. The next morning we spent an incredible day in Portugal where we visited Quinta de Gomariz in the northern Vinho Verde region of Portugal. Here we toured the winery and met the people behind these incredible white wines before heading south to the Douro region to visit Quinta de Carregosa, a small producer making excellent red wines. The Douro was an incredible region that was quite literally mountain after mountain completely terraced and covered with vines. The Douro was one of the most breathtaking places I have seen, I hope to return one day and spend some more time enjoying the region. We had an amazing dinner later that night courtesy of the hard work from the fine people  at Vinixa who had set up all of our visits to the various wineries. The family team at Vinixa has been an immense help to us since we began working together last February and we couldn’t have accomplished our tour of Portugal without them. Before and during the dinner, we met and tasted through the line of Quevedo Ports along with Oscar Quevedo. The ports were absolutely incredible with Portuguese dishes like grilled lamb chops, roasted veal, and an amazing chocolate dessert with an orange cream sauce paired with Quevedo’s LBV and Tawny 10 year- delicious! 

With our one day, one night whirlwind tour of Portugal over, we headed north back to Spain to the Galicia region in the northwestern part of the Iberian Peninsula. There we visited with our good friends and winemakers at Coto de Gomariz to try their new vintages of amazing red and white wines that really impressed all of us. Their red wines were quite a surprise as they are made with interesting local varieties rarely seen outside of Galicia, let alone Spain. Souson, Ferrol, and Brancellao are native red varieties that were almost lost to the region during many political upheavals that Spain has experienced throughout its history. Luckily, there are several producers such as Coto de Gomariz who have dedicated their work to restoring these native varieties and producing incredible wines with them.

After Coto de Gomariz we headed southeast to Ribera del Duero to visit the famous Vega Sicilia family of wines, which include Bodegas Alion and Bodegas Pintia (which is located in nearby DO Toro). We had an amazing tour of the facilities at both Alion and Vega Sicilia before sitting down to an incredible meal where we had the unbelievable opportunity to try wines such as the ’99 Unico, ’02 Valbuena, ’05 Alion and ’06 Pintia. This was the biggest lineup of wines I have ever had the chance to taste, surely one of those days I will never, ever forget for the rest of my life. After our tasting, we had the chance for some down time at the hotel, so we passed the time talking and enjoying a beer for a change on the patio with a cool river running right below us. The next morning it was on the road again, by this time we were getting good at the stop and go schedule we had lined up.

We then headed out to the Rioja region where most of the bodegas we represent are located. We had a few jam-packed days visiting the bodegas and sampling the new vintages and new wines that many of the winemakers have been working on. We first stopped at one of the most famous producers of classic Rioja wines, La Rioja Alta. We visited their amazing facility as well as tasted through their family of wines. I always love to try these wines as you are able to taste and feel the history of Rioja when drinking these delicate, delicious wines. We had fantastic meals at every bodega, and even had the classic Riojana dish “chuletillas a la parilla” (lamb chops grilled over last years dried vines) at both Bodegas Ondalan and Bodegas Medrano Irazu. We also had the opportunity to catch up with “Mr. Non-stop,” Miguel Angel from Bodegas Miguel Angel Muro. This man has more energy that anyone I have met and he has been busy creating a wonderful new reserva wine, which we were able to enjoy. We also caught up with the husband and wife duo of Charo and Julian from Bodegas Ruiz de Vinaspre, where we had the opportunity to try their new line of wines that didn’t disappoint. At Bodegas Santiago Ijalba we were able to try many of the new vintages, and I was most excited to try their new organic wine.  Even with all these visits in a short amount of time, we were also able to enjoy some free time in the village of La Guardia. This turned out to be absolutely chaotic as there was a huge soccer match between Barcelona and local favorites, Atletico Bilbao. People were partying in the street setting off what seemed like quarter sticks of dynamite based on the sound of the explosions- and this was even with their loss to FC Barcelona! Europeans are soccer crazy to say the least……There is always something new to experience in Rioja; I think that is what keeps us going back! 

Once our tour of Rioja had ended, we drove up north to one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, San Sebastian. This is still one of my favorite cities to visit as they have the most incredible gastronomy scenes in Europe, it’s unbelievable. From the hundreds of tapas bars and a visit to a traditional sideria, we experienced some amazing food and wine while finally being able to relax a bit as our non-stop schedule had finally come to an end. Our visit to San Sebastian was the perfect way to end our wine filled tour of Spain and Portugal and reflect on all the amazing sites and generous people we had seen and met.

With the month of April at its halfway point, I thought I would take the opportunity to fill our readers in with what we have scheduled in the upcoming days and months. At the end of this month is the Pennsylvania Wine Week, kicking off April 30th in Pittsburgh, before heading to Hershey and finishing in Philadelphia. We had an absolutely amazing time at these events last year and cant wait to head back to pour some amazing wines for everyone attending. Anyone living close to any of the three events should definitely attend if able, there are going to be some amazing producers, importers and distributors showing wines from all over the world- as well as the good old U-S of A!

After the final event wraps up in Philadelphia, my father and I will fly directly over to Spain and Portugal to visit several new bodegas we’re beginning to work with and to tour their facilities. We’re obviously very excited about the trip as our traveling adventures are the best part of our job! (well, drinking all this delicious wine isn’t too bad either). We’ll be visiting quite a range of wineries, from smaller Portuguese producers like Quinta da Carregosa to medium sized bodegas such as Coto de Gomariz in Galicia ,as well as the world renowned Vega Sicilia in Ribera del Duero. Also on the trip list is Rioja Alavesa and  Bodegas Ondalan, Medrano Irazu, Ruiz de Vinaspre and Miguel Angel Muro which I can’t wait to see as he has been totally remodeling his bodega. We will also visit the wonderful Basque country of Spain where, in my humble opinion, they have the most exciting food and dining experiences in Europe. We’ll be visiting many other bodegas and areas that I’ll include in upcoming posts, so grab a bottle or two (Spanish or Portuguese please as that’s where we’ll be!) and be patient as I publish bits and peices of our trip.

As the trip in Europe winds down, my father will fly home to attend the 21st Anuual Jackson Hole Wine Festival on May 22nd. While he is enjoying the wonderful scenery in Jackson, I will spend a few days in Barcelona catching up with friends, including Ryan and Gabriella from Catavino.net who never disappoint with their food and wine adventures. I’ll be trying to get new posts published as often as I can while traveling, so stay tuned for a TON of new posts!!

Cheers,

Michael

2009 has been a huge success so far for Bodegas Santiago Ijalba, gaining recognition in several wine expos and magazines. Most recently, the 2004 Ogga Reserva and the 2004 Viña Hermosa Reserva received 3 star recommendations in the 2009 Decanter World Wine Awards. The final results will be released in May of this year, but the fine people at Decanter have informed all winning recipients of their awards before the official May release.

Also of importance which I find VERY exciting, is the bronze medal awarded to the 2004 Mutuo Organic Crianza at the “Challenge Millesime Bio 2009.” The event was held in January in Montpellier France and is arguably the most important wine event for organic wines. The event aims to promote the growing demand for organic wines, as well as the improvements in the  quality of wines that producers around the globe are striving to achieve. With their brand Viña Hermosa, Bodegas Santiago Ijalba has been involved in organic wine research and development for 10 years and this award is the perfect recognition for all their hard work and dedication. As more producers rise to meet the many environmental challenges of our time, look for more organic wines to gain the attention of wine publications and critics worldwide.

Cheers,

Michael

With Rioja still the most well known region in Spain, it’s nice to see the magazines and reviewers turning back north. After spending much of the past years focused on the fantastic wines and regions exploding onto the US market from other areas of Spain, it’s comforting that they are once again focusing on the region that put Spanish wine on the map. A few months ago the dynamic duo from Catavino.net put up an impressive amount of wine reviews on their blog about Rioja, especially when you think that two people powered through all those wines. Dedication. Along with Catavino’s review recently, the International Wine Review just released their review on Rioja and also has an amazing list of wines from all over Rioja, from the classic styles to the more modern Rioja wines. Both will be great information sources for the novice to the aficionado, and highly recommend reading and searching each different review. Wines of note in both reviews, Bodegas Ondalan, Bodegas Medrano Irazu, Bodegas Miguel Angel Muro, Bodegas Ruiz de Vinaspre and Bodegas Santiago Ijalba.