Rioja is a wine, with Denominación de Origen Calificada Rioja (Protected designation of origin), from a region named after the Rio Oja in Spain, a tributary of the Ebro. Rioja is made from grapes grown in the autonomous communities of La Rioja and Navarre and the Basque province of Álava. La Rioja is further subdivided into three zones (in rising order of warmth) Rioja Alavesa, Rioja Alta and Rioja Baja. Rioja Alta is the highest of these zones and is said to produce the best wine. Many wines have traditionally blended fruit from all three regions though there is a slow growth in single zone wines.

Rioja wines are normally a blend of various grape varieties, and can be either red (tinto), white (blanco) or rosé (rosado). La Rioja has a total of 57,000 hectares cultivated, yielding 250 million litres of wine annually, of which 85% is red.

Among the Tintos, the best-known and most widely-used variety is Tempranillo. Other grapes used include Garnacha Tinta, Graciano, and Mazuelo. Whereas one wine maker, Marques de Riscal, is permitted to grow and use Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot by special dispensation and other wineries also have experimental plantings of these varietals, a more typical blend will consist of approximately 60% Tempranillo and upto 20% Grenache, with much smaller proportions of Mazuelo and Graciano. With Rioja Blanco, Viura is the prominent grape (also known as Macabeo) and is normally blended with some Malvasía and Garnacha Blanca. Rosados are mostly derived from Grenache grapes.

Rioja red wines are classified into four categories. The first, simply labeled "Rioja," is the youngest, spending less than a year in an oak aging barrel. A "crianza" is wine aged for at least two years, at least one of which was in oak. "Rioja Reserva" is aged for at least three years, of which at least one year is in oak.

Finally, "Rioja Gran Reserva" wines have been aged at least two years in oak and three years in bottle. Reserva and Gran Reserva wines are not necessarily produced each year.

Visit the Spanish Wine Regions section of our website for more information on Spanish wine.