RIOJA ORIENTAL

More than just an administration tweak, the changing of this subregion's name from Rioja Baja to Rioja Oriental holds far deeper significance for its native wine producers. As the region undergoes a winemaking transformation, Simon Field MW explains how a new generation is reclaiming the higher ground – in every sense of the phrase

- Simon Field MW

Rioja Oriental used to be known as Rioja Baja. It used also to be known, anecdotally at least, as something of a poor relation; think of the comparison between the Aube and the Côtes des Blancs in Champagne, or between the Mâconnais and the Côte d’Or in Burgundy. This reputation, it transpires, was born as much as anything from ignorance, political expediency and a physical distance from the seat of power which, historically, has centred on the northwestern sector of the Rioja DOCa, closer to the early French influences and location of the largest and most powerful houses.

Things are changing, however, and now Rioja Oriental is being increasingly lauded for the very things which were once perceived as its drawbacks. History and geography will tease out the reasons why.

Rioja is a long, cigar-shaped region, its three administrative hubs running in a south-southeast axis for more than 100km and covering nearly 64,000ha. One of these hubs, La Rioja, claims all the land south of the Ebro river and is therefore represented by both Rioja Alta and much of Rioja Oriental. North of the river we have the Basque province of Alava (Rioja Alavesa) and, further to the east, Navarra. Rioja Oriental straddles the river in the eastern sector, and therefore is divided across both autonomous districts of La Rioja and Navarra – in essence, all points east and southeast of the regional capital of Logroño, hence the name ‘Oriental’, which means ‘Eastern’ in Spanish.

Historically, focus has been on Logroño, for sure, but more specifically on the town of Haro deep into La Rioja Alta. The famous Marqueses of Riscal and Murrieta wanted to create conditions as close to France as possible; here the Atlantic influence was seen as the most benevolent, and here and only here could the Bordelais model be refashioned.