🗓️ Day 52 - the old and new Rioja
+ Chianti
💪 Warm up time
Let’s revise Chianti today. The following statements may have factual errors. Please read carefully:
While the blend for Chianti DOCG is 70–100% Sangiovese, it can still include up to 15% of white grapes (e.g., Trebbiano Toscano), although they are rarely used. Chianti DOCG can be released for sale in March following the vintage, contributing to its lighter flavour intensity and lower cost compared to regions like Chianti Classico. For Chianti to be released as Riserva, it must be aged for two years before release, but apart from certain subzones, no wood ageing is required
Chianti Classico became an autonomous DOCG in 1996; it is no longer a subzone of Chianti. The maximum yield for Chianti Classico is restricted to 52.5 hL/ha. Chianti Classico can be released no sooner than October in the year after the harvest, adding to its production cost. Riserva Chianti Classico must be aged for two years from 1 January after the harvest .
In 2013, the Consorzio introduced a new top tier for Chianti Classico called Gran Selezione, which has even stricter rules including grapes from a single vineyard or estate, a minimum ageing of 30 months, and from 2021, a minimum of 90% Sangiovese with international grape varieties excluded
As of 2022, Chianti was the highest selling red wine in Italy by volume and value. Chianti Classico exports nearly 81% of its production, with the USA being the main market at 46% of exports by volume.
The answer to this warm up question is at the end of today’s entry.
⏳ Past exam question
Question three from the October 2019 exam
Explain how grape-growing and winemaking options influence the style and quality of the red wines of Rioja. (70% weighting) Outline the new legislation for Rioja DOCa, published in 2018. (30% weighting)
💡 Examiner’s report
© Wine & Spirit Education Trust
There were two distinct parts to this question. A significant number of candidates performed reasonably well in the first part but provided little or no detail for the second.
With 30% of the marks allocated to the second part of the question, those who did not answer this needed to score the equivalent of a high Merit grade in the first part to have any chance of achieving a Pass grade overall. This was something they invariably failed to do.
Another problem was that many candidates did not answer the question that had been set. It asked for an explanation of how grape-growing and winemaking options influence the style and quality of the red wines of Rioja. Candidates were not instructed to simply describe the sub-regions and typical wine making practices but this is exactly what a great many did do. When answering questions of this type, for example where you are required to consider options, it is good practice to include examples of producers of wines made using the options being discussed. Rioja is an excellent region to demonstrate the usefulness of using examples in this way because there are some producers making
wine in an extremely traditional (some may even say old-fashioned) way and others who have embraced modernity. Examples of these two extremes could be presented almost as a mini-case study to illustrate some of the options available to the producer and the outcomes of these options.
Vineyard location is perhaps the most obvious grape growing option as Rioja has three zones with varying conditions in terms of climates, topography and soils, presenting the producer with a number of options that can have a bearing on wine style and quality.
Many red Riojas are a blend of base wines from these three zones so that producers can take advantage of the regional variations. Vintage variation can be marked in some years and there are producers who aim for consistent products year on year, so blending can be an important part of achieving such consistency, whilst others prefer to make wines that represent the vintage. The average age of the vines, trellising method and yield reduction techniques such as green harvesting and general canopy management are all factors to be considered in respect of this section of the question. However, it was important to remember that this should always be linked back to
the style and quality of the wines produced.
There are several permitted grape varieties in the Rioja DO with varying characteristics – some bring structure in the form of tannin or acidity while others contribute alcohol, body or deep colour. Some perform better in certain sub-regions than others due to different soils or variations in climate. Some grapes form a higher proportion of the blend or may be used in isolation. All of these options contribute to variations in wine style and quality and needed discussing.
Maturation is probably the most defining element of production in terms of winemaking options, but it is not the only one. Wines may not only be a blend of different varieties and different vineyard areas but can also be made using various techniques, which can affect style and quality and these variations should have been discussed where appropriate.
Ageing regulations have had a significant impact on the styles of Rioja available on the market and continue to do so. These regulations led to a hierarchy with young wines at the bottom (least expensive and supposedly of lowest quality) and the oldest wines at the top (most expensive and supposedly of highest quality). However, the regulations for these age categories only specify ageing requirements whilst practices in the vineyard and winery, that may also affect quality, are not stipulated. This means that even though two producers’ Gran Reserva wines will have been aged in barriques for a minimum of two years, and in bottle for a further three years, they can be very different
in style, quality and price because of other contributory factors and this is what this question aimed to address.
The 1990s saw the introduction of premium wines without an ageing category. These wines, often termed ‘vinos de autor’, were made from low yields and selected parcels of vines to make very ripe-fruited, concentrated and structured wines that had been aged in new French oak. They were very different to the ‘traditional’ wines that underwent long ageing (often much longer than the minimum requirements) in American oak. However, most wines sit somewhere between these two extremes.
The common trend is to highlight the characteristics and quality of the grapes. This is achieved in various ways including selection of harvest dates (often earlier), more gentle extraction, use of older and/or larger oak vessels or other vessels such as concrete tanks or amphorae, and shorter maturation periods. Producers choose whether to follow the ageing regulations and release their wines labelled within an ageing category or not. French oak is now more common than American oak, though there are still those who use only American oak and even more that may use a proportion of American oak in a blend.
All of these ‘options’ form the crux of this question and it was only through discussing them in the context of how they create differences in the style and quality of the wines in which they feature, that candidates could successfully answer this question.
The new legislation introduced from 2018 formed the second part of this question and it was largely a case of presenting the facts. This was easily done where candidates had learnt these, but was clearly problematic where they had not.The key points are as follows:
Rioja had long been a PDO without further geographical delimitations, so sub-zones, single vineyards and villages could not be mentioned on the label. Growing discontent amongst a number of producers caused the Consejo Regulador to review the regulations. These were approved in 2017 and published in 2018 with the result that producers who meet the specifications can now label their wines with any of the following:
Zone (Vino de Zona) – all grapes must be sourced from the single zone named (Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa or Rioja Oriental). One exception is that 15% of grapes may come from a vineyard outside the zone, providing that vineyard borders the zone mentioned and the producer can provide evidence that they have been sourcing grapes from the vineyard for 10 consecutive years. Vinification, ageing and bottling of the wine must take place within the zone.
Village/Municipality (Vino de Municipio) – All grapes must be sourced from the municipality (such as a village or group of villages) named, with a similar 15% rule allowing grapes from a municipality that borders the named municipality, if grapes have been sourced from there for 10 consecutive years. Vinification, ageing and bottling of the wine must take place within the named municipality, meaning that a producer must have a winery in that municipality for wines to be labelled in this way. This differs from, say, Burgundy where the wines of many different communes can be vinified in the same winery. Wine labels may indicate the municipality of production, with the option of the zone of production.
Single Vineyard (Viñedo Singular) – All grapes must be sourced from the vineyard. The producer must have owned the vineyard for a minimum of 10 years, the vineyard must be a minimum of 35 years old, and yields must be 20% lower than the regional maximum. The vineyard must be hand harvested and treated in a sustainable way, with some restrictions on pruning during the growing season. Checks on traceability will be carried out and the wine must be authorised by a tasting panel. Wine labels may indicate the municipality and zone of production as well as the vineyard/ estate and the phrase Viñedo Singular. Vinification, ageing, storage and bottling must take place within the same winery. These geographical delimitations sit alongside the traditional ageing categories.
🥁 Answer to today’s warm up question
❌ While the blend for Chianti DOCG is 70–100% Sangiovese, it can still include up to
15%10% of white grapes (e.g., Trebbiano Toscano), although they are rarely used. Chianti DOCG can be released for sale in March following the vintage, contributing to its lighter flavour intensity and lower cost compared to regions like Chianti Classico. For Chianti to be released as Riserva, it must be aged for two years before release, but apart from certain subzones, no wood ageing is required✔️ Chianti Classico became an autonomous DOCG in 1996; it is no longer a subzone of Chianti. The maximum yield for Chianti Classico is restricted to 52.5 hL/ha. Chianti Classico can be released no sooner than October in the year after the harvest, adding to its production cost. Riserva Chianti Classico must be aged for two years from 1 January after the harvest .
✔️ In 2013, the Consorzio introduced a new top tier for Chianti Classico called Gran Selezione, which has even stricter rules including grapes from a single vineyard or estate, a minimum ageing of 30 months, and from 2021, a minimum of 90% Sangiovese with international grape varieties excluded
✔️ As of 2022, Chianti was the highest selling red wine in Italy by volume and value. Chianti Classico exports nearly 81% of its production, with the USA being the main market at 46% of exports by volume.
To revise your Chianti facts, please see WSET Diploma in Wine D3 textbook p270-273.
This classic/mainstream region hasn’t shown up in theory since October 2022 as a standalone question. Would it appear in this seating?
