Long gone are the years when red was only Rioja, rosé from Navarra and white from Penedès. In recent decades, new large wine-producing areas have not stopped emerging throughout Spain, such as Ribera del Duero, Rueda or Rías Baixas, and forgotten areas have been recovered, such as those of the bicentennial hawthorns of vineyards in Soria, Arlanza (Burgos and Palencia) or Segovia. Old production techniques have also been recovered, such as aging in ceramic jars or sparkling wines using the ancestral method, while betting on minimal interventions, looking back at the vineyard and sustainability or on wines with less extraction, less wood and less alcohol. The less, well, now, is more. And even today outstanding reds are made in Galicia and whites in Rioja.
And within this framework, a report by the consultancy Nielsen IQ, which has raised a lot of dust in Rioja, has revealed that, for the first time, Castilla y León wines, thanks above all to the pull of the DO Ribera del Duero and the DO Rueda, have ousted Rioja from leadership. In the traditional food and hospitality channels in the national market, Castilla y León climbed to the first position as market leader for the first time. Thus, in 2022, with a market share in sales volume of 27.6%, it gained 0.7 points and was placed, for the first time, above Rioja in the historical series.
The wines of the DOP and the IGP of Castilla y León have performed better than the group of quality wines from Spain and its main competitors, as reported by the Junta de Castilla y León. This growth is mainly reflected in the national sales of the DOs of the community, which have had a share growth of 1.3 points compared to last year. This increase is mainly due to the growth of the hotel and catering channel, which is more relevant for Castilla y León wines than for other origins, and a very positive performance in the specialist channel.
José Luis Lapuente, general director of the DO Ca. Rioja, has described as “crude and grotesque” the decision of the Junta de Castilla y León to “mix churras with meninas”. He points out in statements to the Comer La Vanguardia channel that the report presented by the Junta de Castilla y León refers to autonomous communities, and not to appellations of origin independently. In other words, “they have added nine DOs, four Quality Wines and three Pago de Castilla y León Wines to present data that jointly place them only one tenth above Rioja”. And he recalls that the DO Ca. Rioja continues to be the leading appellation, notably, in Spain, also highlighting its export strength (40.75% of production). Lapuente also shows his surprise at the presentation for the first time of a report of these characteristics by the Junta de Castilla y León.
The commercialization of wine with the Rioja denomination fell by 1.2% in 2022 compared to 2021, according to the Regulatory Council. Despite this, the 2022 report of the DO Ca. Rioja includes data from a Nielsen IQ market study that ratifies the leadership of Rioja sales at a national level, registering a market share in volume among DO wines of 27.5%, which represents a gain of nearly half a point compared to 2021. In addition, according to data provided by the Spanish Wine Market Observatory, in volume, more than a third (34.7%) of Spanish wines with DO that are sold abroad are from Rioja.
On the other hand, 80 marketing, communication and wine tourism professionals from more than 70 wineries in the DO Ca Rioja have worked to agree on a common story around Rioja In essence. The story, which has recently been presented, is articulated around three main premises. The first, that “in Rioja, wine is everything” and articulates not only the economy, but also the culture and social life of the region. The second, that “Rioja is governed by enormous rigor that has led us to excellence and to be a national and international leader and benchmark – few regions use the resources that Rioja allocates to self-control and self-regulation, to guarantee traceability, authenticity and quality-“. And, finally, that Rioja extends over “100 kilometers of diversity”, understood not only in the climatic and geographical variety, but also in the types of wineries and wines that it entails.
Supported by these three arguments, the story leads to the brand slogan ‘Rioja, Spain’s Finest’, which already guides all actions to promote the DO Ca. deployed abroad and will also serve wineries to incorporate it into their own discourse.
