La Rioja

La Rioja

This Argentina wine province could only make wine after its Spanish namesake. La Rioja climate is a few degrees warmer and noticeably drier than Mendoza with an average annual rainfall of just 125mm. Mid-summer temperatures average 35C dropping as low as -7C during the short winter months of July and August. While the soil is mainly loose alluvial sand. With around 8,000 ha of vineyards, La Rioja is small compared to Mendoza at 160000 ha. La Rioja is highly suited to producing wines of real quality, where the vines grow at 1000m – 1400m above sea level, which causes the day-time temperatures to drop by half during the night, allowing the grapes to recover from the heat, and retain their aroma and freshness. The relationship between low latitude and high altitude comes into play in La Rioja. The province’s latitude of 29°S puts it closer to the Equator than most of the world’s wine regions, but the high altitude moderates the high temperatures usually associated with this latitude. La Rioja’s position in the rain shadow of the Andes range means that wine-producing areas are strictly governed by access to water. As a result, vineyard distribution is scattered.

La Rioja’s most planted variety is the indigenous, aromatic Torrontés, or Torrontés Riojano, to give it its full name. This is the same clone used to make all the best Argentine Torrontés which suggests the grape was first cultivated here. Today the giant La Riojana Co-Operative control almost half the vineyards in the province and produce over 20 million litres of Torrontés a year in every style from sweet, to dry and sparkling.

Other varieties that do well in La Rioja include Bonarda, the country’s shamefully under-rated red grape, Syrah and of course Malbec.