The official control organisation in Rioja has after extensive tastings deemed the 2014 vintage to be “good”. Everything did indeed look very good when I was there in October last year. They are very satisfied both with the quality and the quantity of the harvest. The volume is up compared to last year: 2.9 million hectolitre. The vast majority is red wine, 2.6 Mhl. They also make a bit of white, 0.2 Mhl, and even a dash of rosé, 0.15 Mhl.
2014 also marks the 30th anniversary of when they introduced an official quality rating of the vintage. It is based on extensive tank sampling and tastings by a 140 person strong professional tasting panel. This is one of the things that is the basis of the “calificada” in the Rioja classification of D.O.Ca.
Read more on how this is done in Rioja: riojawine.com
