La Rioja Alta is the most prestigious winery from the Rioja wine region in Spain. The winery was founded in 1890 by 5 families of connaisseurs that wanted to come up with an alternative for the Bordeaux wines. Back then, Bordeaux vineyards were hit hard by phylloxera. La Rioja Alta is famous worldwide for its top quality red wines. Most of these red wines are produced from grape varieties such as Tempranillo, Mazuelo and Graciano.

Rioja Wines

Rioja is Spain's most famous wine region. Divided into three subregions - Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental - each with their unique characteristics, Rioja produces predominantly red wines from Tempranillo and Garnacha. Barrel-aging is almost mandatory in Rioja, so look for these terms on labels: Crianza, Reserva or Gran Reserva. Crianza being the least expensive is consequently the most produced. As for white wines Malvasia was Rioja's favourite but now the emphasis shifted to Viura.

Mazuelo Wines

Mazuelo also known as Carignan is a black skinned grape variety originating from Aragon and mostly found within the wine regions of northern Spain and Languedoc-Roussillon, France. Generally speaking Mazuelo plays its best role in Rioja's red wines next to Garnacha (Grenache) and Tempranillo revealing rich aromas and flavours of black fruits, pepper, licorice, peppery accents. In the meantime French Mazuelo (Carignan) is located in Languedoc-Roussillon and produces table wines (vin de table).