A Return to Tradition: Rioja Takes a Step Toward Its Past

As Spain’s most famous wine region continues to grapple with overproduction from big producers making mundane, uniform wines, a new generation of talented growers and winemakers are tuning into Rioja’s unique terroirs to craft bottles that reflect historical traditions of sound viticulture and handmade winemaking.

Unlike their parents and grandparents, who were accustomed to selling their grapes to large wineries, these winemakers have taken ownership over their own terroirs and are crafting wines that highlight their most distinctive plots – even if those vineyards sometimes measure less than a hectare and yield barely a thousand bottles. Many of the wines they are making are field blends, often fermented with a high percentage of whole clusters, echoing the region’s early practices.

“Around 30 years ago, 90 to 95 percent of vignerons sold their grapes to big houses, but now, that number has dropped,” said Marcos Eguren, the veteran winemaker at the family-run Bodega Sierra Cantabria.

In the village of Sajazarra, Oscar Alegre, who runs Alegre Valgañon with his wife, Eva Valgañon, pointed out that Rioja “was once was just like Barolo and Burgundy, boasting over 5,000 family-run producers focused on their vineyards,” but that it now only counts about 600 wineries in total, with most of the production in the hands of large producers who focus on volume and winery methods that give them more leverage when it comes to regulatory decisions made by Rioja’s regulatory wine council.

Although these large producers helped popularize Rioja wines and made the region commercially successful, independent winemakers are now exploring tighter collaborations and smaller alliances to make their wines more distinctive, setting them apart from the large, commercial producers. In addition, Bodegas Familiares de Rioja, which was founded in 1991, serves as a collective voice for some of the smaller wineries.

Valgañon said there was a shared need among quality-conscious growers to elevate their wines together beyond niche markets and lend meaning to their collective effort. “I also want my wines to be seen on the supermarket shelves, not just on a list of a Michelin-star restaurant,” she said.

Alegre Valgañon’s limited offerings – including the Carra Sto Domingo 2023 and Bahierra 2023 – embody that vision: meaningful, terroir-specific wines not made for the mass market. The Carra Sto Domingo vineyard, co-planted with reds and whites since 1929, features about 30 percent white grapes and produces a claret-style wine. With climate change reshaping growing conditions, Alegre notes that garnacha is now thriving in Sajazarra – something previously rare.

Many Riojan winemakers preferred the more variable 2023 season to the hot, dry 2022. Gonzalo Iturriaga, the winemaker at Macán, called 2022 the tougher year because of the boiling summer. “I don’t like too much opulence, and it was a year of opulence,” he said while tasting the wines of Macán.

Patricia Lopez La Calle of the Artadi winery noted that the late-season heat wave in 2023 significantly affected conditions. However, their 3.3-hectare La Hoya vineyard, with sandy, silt-rich soils and an east-facing slope, still produced standout wines alongside their top “crus” – Carretil and Viña El Pisón.

Eguren recalled 2022 as the hottest year he has ever experienced – “even worse than 2003” – requiring acid corrections. He described 2023 as less intense but still challenging, with sunburn affecting many tempranillo grapes and forcing strict selection. About 15 percent of the crop was discarded.

In contrast, the cooler 2021 vintage shines with elegance and complexity, standing apart from the fruit-forward ripeness of 2022. Many of the top wines in this report come from 2021, which Agustin Santolaya, the managing at Roda, ranks among the best in history, alongside 1964 and 2001, as does Guillermo de Aranzabal of La Rioja Alta group.

Renowned Rioja winemaker Telmo Rodriguez called 2021 “amazing,” even though Rioja’s Regulatory Council gave a more restrained rating, since it also considers yield and quantity. Still, leading producers concur that 2021 was an exceptional year, particularly for the Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa subregions.

Among the finest examples are Rodriguez’s Yjar Rioja 2021 and Eguren’s Sierra Cantabria Rioja Mágico 2021, both remarkable representations of the year. Eguren, whose first vintage was 1978, recalled that 2021 began with low temperatures and abundant winter rain, followed by a warm, dry summer that benefited the harvest. “There was no mildew, which was a relief,” he added. He considers 2021 a “historical” year – “the best of the modern era, alongside 2001, 2010 and 2016.”

The Mágico 2021, sourced from the historic 1.18-hectare El Vardallo vineyard, which was planted 120 years ago with ungrafted vines, shows idiosyncratic citrus and savory notes, blending various grape varieties, including 10 percent white grapes. With fewer than 2,000 bottles made, it represents both rarity and quality, although it also comes with a lofty price tag of about $750, according to Wine-Searcher.

The subsequent 2022 and 2023 vintages presented greater challenges. According to Arturo de Miguel of Bodegas Artuke in Baños de Ebro, 2022 saw four heat waves that pushed vines to their limits. “It was a year when vines shut down at the end of the cycle,” he said – producing bigger, fruitier wines, and sometimes harsher tannins when extraction was pushed too far.

In the more variable 2023, heat and rain combined to complicate the season, and there weren’t many cool nights during the growing season, noted Juan Bautista, the winemaker at Gómez Cruzado in Haro. The result was less consistent quality, but generally more balanced wines than 2022, with less forced ripeness and a more supple, fluid character. The best examples — like Artuke’s La Condenada 2023 and El Escolladero 2023 — showcase complexity, precision and fine, vibrant tannins, expressing a clear sense of place.

READ MORE: TERROIR AND TRADITION POINT RIBERA DEL DUERO TO THE FUTURE

Similarly, José and Vicky Gil of the José Gil winery said 2023 was slightly better than the arid 2022, despite hail damage in San Vicente de la Sonsierra.

“There were two hails, the second one much more severe, which blocked the ripeness,” José Gil said. “It was a smaller harvest. 2023 isn’t a bad one. For us, it was better than the scorching and arid 2022 and can be considered a medium-good vintage.”

For them, 2024 looks even more promising – a cooler, damper year with some late-season rain challenges. “Those who harvested late could have problems with botrytis,” Gil noted.

Carlos Sanchez, who launched his Rioja project in 2019 after success with garnacha and albillo real in Gredos, made some of the most ethereal 2023s, including the nuanced Los Montes Bellos del Buradón 2023 and the delicate, infusion-like Buradón Las Plegarias 2023. His limited-production Los Montes Bellos del Buradón Blanco 2022 highlights old-vine viura, showcasing the grape’s untapped potential – much like graciano for reds.

As a neutral yet versatile grape, viura offers a range of expressions, conveying terroir like chardonnay. “Viura is a grape that gives you many cards,” said Abel Mendoza, who runs his eponymous winery in San Vicente de la Sonsierra.

This report includes several outstanding viuras worth exploring – from the gastronomic, Chablis-like Abel Mendoza Viura Rioja 2024 to the eclectic Cupani Viura Rioja Rielo 2020, the sensual, complex Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Capellanía 2020, which is notable for its creamy texture, concentration and waxy depth, as well as the Gils' El Calado del Espino Blanco 2023.

The six-hectare Capellania vineyard, planted in 1945 at Ygay Estate’s highest point, features calcareous clay soils. The 2020 harvest took place on Sept. 22 and 23, and the wine spent 20 months in French barrels and 15 months in concrete vats. Marques de Murrieta winemaker Maria Vargas, who calls viura “a solid soldier who hardly complains,” believes it produces wines with excellent acidity, concentration and longevity – especially on limestone soils.

A vertical tasting of old Castillo Ygay white vintages with Vargas and owner Vicente Dalmau confirmed just how gracefully the best viuras can age and endure lengthy oak maturation.

Today, Rioja stands at a crossroads, caught between a small but growing movement of younger winemakers trying to revive traditional winemaking practices and the established mainstream that built Rioja’s modern reputation. Visitors may marvel at the historic cellars of Haro, yet what they often see is a relatively modern legacy shaped by Bordeaux influence and, indirectly, by phylloxera.

Even major producers are adapting, with new terroir-focused wines like the Torre de Oña Rioja Alavesa El Camino 2021, signaling a shift back toward specificity rather than blend-driven uniformity.

Leading voices such as Telmo Rodriguez argue that Rioja must reconnect with its pre-industrial roots. “We are kidnapped by a system, and finally people now realize it doesn’t make sense,” he said. “The new generation today is going back to the traditions of the 16th century, which is why it is crucial to understand these traditions.”

He also sees a new sensibility among younger wine lovers. “I find that the new generation today prefers to spend money traveling instead of buying a Porsche,” he said, noting how curiosity and experience now drive consumption more than prestige labels.

As Rodriguez observed, the wines tasted during our week in Rioja confirmed that spirit of exploration. James, Jacobo García Andrade and I rated 752 wines this year in Spain and in our Hong Kong office – a diverse lineup that reflects both Rioja’s historic grandeur and its renewed authenticity. Check out our top scorers below.

– Zekun Shuai, Senior Editor

The list of wines below is comprised of bottles tasted and rated by the JamesSuckling.com tasting team. They include many latest releases not yet available on the market, but which will be available soon. 

Note: You can sort the wines below by vintage, score and alphabetically by winery name. You can also search for specific wines in the search bar.