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In future, wines with a single vineyard designation as well as sparkling wines will be permitted in Rioja. The control council of the Denominación de Origen Calificada Rioja (DOCa, Qualified Designation of Origin Rioja) has now introduced the category " Viñedos Singulares" after a long discussion. The designation is intended to supplement the existing quality levels upwards. According to the control council, at least 35-year-old vines and manual harvesting are obligatory for a wine to be approved. In addition, the yield from the vineyard must be more than 20 percent lower than the quantity defined for the denominación.
With this step, the control council wants to react to the steadily increasing interest of the market in concrete information about the origin of the wines, it says in a statement. Some Rioja producers have been campaigning for this step in the association for several years. It is to ensure a more precise differentiation of the wines, because the quality levels valid so far only distinguish the maturation period after ageing.
In addition, the control council has integrated a sparkling wine category into the DOCa rules for the first time. A minimum of 15 months of bottle fermentation and an alcohol content of between eleven and 13 percent are required for approval. The grape varieties for white and rosé sparkling wines are not restricted for approval.
(uka / Photo: Uwe Kauss)