Rioja is a wine region in North Central Spain, 120 Miles south of Bilbao. There are 63,593 hectares of vineyards divided between three provinces on the Upper Ebro – La Rioja (43,885 ha), Alava (12,934 ha) and Navarre (6,774 ha).

The wine region produces 280 to 300m litres of wine annually, of which 90% is red and the rest a mixture of white and rosé.

The grape varieties currently grown in the region are:
• Reds: Tempranillo, Garnacha, Graciano, Mazuela (Carignan) and Maturana.
• Whites: Viura (Macabeo), Garnacha Blanca, Malvasía, Torrontés, Verdejo, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Maturana Blanca.

Quick links: Rioja vintage guides | Seven best buy Riojas under £30/$50 | Decanter Travel Guide: Rioja, Spain | Wine Trails: Six Rioja wineries to visit | Rioja festival goers soaked in 130,000 litres of red wine

Rioja benefits from a mix of Atlantic, Continental and Mediterranean climates. Hot summers and cold winters with relatively high rainfall are all perfect for producing top quality grapes which go into producing quality Rioja wines.
La Rioja includes different soil types and can be divided between the three provinces:
• Rioja Alta: Here we can find a big diversity of soils, most of them limestone and clay, but in some places the soil can be rich in iron or full of pebbles.
• Rioja Alavesa: On the North edge of the region, it has a distinctive chalky clay-limestone soil and steeply sloped landscape.
• Rioja Baja: It has much fertile alluvial soils and is heavy with silt.

Quick Links: Top 10 Rioja wines | Rioja under £25: panel tasting results | Anson on Thursday: Redefining Rioja terroir | Rioja sales hit new record in 2015