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Rioja Is Having a Renaissance— and the Critics Are Taking Notice
Press Coverage · News
Vinous critic Joaquín Hidalgo spent three weeks traveling Rioja and emerged with a definitive verdict: the region has never been more exciting — or more worth exploring.
April 7, 2026
Rioja DO
Vintages 2022 · 2023 · 2024
One of the wine world’s most respected critical voices just devoted a sweeping three-week journey to Rioja — and the verdict is everything we’ve always believed. Writing for Vinous, critic Joaquín Hidalgo found a region undergoing genuine, ground-up transformation: a place where nearly 13,000 grape growers, centuries of viticultural wisdom, and a bold new generation of winemakers are collectively rewriting the story of what Rioja wine can be.
“Today, Rioja’s offerings reflect a patchwork of unique terroirs and a diverse array of individual interpretations of those sites. There are a lot more wines worth discovering than there used to be.”
Joaquín Hidalgo · Vinous, April 2026
The backdrop matters. Global wine consumption is declining, and the industry is grappling with questions of identity and relevance. Against that pressure, Rioja stands apart — not by clinging to convention, but by rediscovering what it has always had: exceptional land, deep expertise, and winemakers who are no longer content to let oak and bottle age tell the whole story.
Smaller producers are returning to the unaged village wines their grandparents drank. Old-vine field blends from storied sites like Sonsierra — where nearly half of Rioja’s oldest vines grow — are gaining critical and commercial momentum. The region’s famous Crianza classification system, built on barrel time, is being challenged by a new organizing principle: the primacy of place.
Five styles defining Contemporary Rioja
Hidalgo’s report maps five distinct movements now emerging across the DO — from purity-driven expressions that read like a Burgundy conversation to powerful, concentrated styles with one foot firmly in the New World.
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01
Fruity & Primary
Violet and sour cherry, juicy tannins, pure terroir expression. Burgundy-inspired precision from producers like Sierra del Toloño and Altún.
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02
Carbonic Maceration
Approachable yet substantive. Partial maceration delivers both primary fruit and secondary complexity in a single, elegant glass.
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03
No Evident Aging
French oak that doesn’t dominate. Dark fruit, balsamic warmth, and a chalky, nimble mouthfeel — the Bordeaux side of Rioja.
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04
New World Rioja
Concentrated, polished, powerful. Ribera-level intensity on unmistakably Riojan bones — Muga, Contador, Roda.
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05
Old-Vine Field Blends
Co-planted heritage varieties from ancient sites. Genuinely distinctive — wines that could only come from one place on earth.
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What’s most striking about Hidalgo’s report isn’t a single score — it’s the language of discovery woven through every paragraph. These are wines from producers who have always been here, now being heard differently. Remelluri, Pujanza, Artuke, Lanzaga, Contino: names Hidalgo frames not as exceptions to a rule, but as the emerging rule itself.
“Contemporary Rioja,” as he defines it, favors fruit, precision, and greater site specificity over traditional pan-regional blends. It’s the Rioja we have always championed — and the Rioja you’ll find in every bottle we bring to your table.
Explore the Collection
Discover Spain’s Finest — curated from the very producers the critics are talking about.
Press
Vinous
Tempranillo
Old Vines
Contemporary Rioja
2022 · 2023 · 2024
Terroir
Joaquín Hidalgo