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Rioja renegades: 10 producers writing their own rules

In this sneak preview of the latest Decanter magazine issue, Sarah Jane Evans MW selects the 10 most influential free spirits of Rioja...

Rioja, Spain’s most famous wine region, is surely too classical and altogether too famous to have renegades.

Yet depending on how you define the term, Rioja certainly does have its fair share. ‘A person who deserts and betrays an organisation, country or set of principles’ sounds a rather harsh descriptor of those producers who choose to follow their own path along the winding banks of the river Ebro.

Yet the departure of Juan Carlos López de Lacalle from the Denominación at the end of 2015 aroused strong feelings among winemakers in the region – though none has yet followed him.


Scroll down for Sarah Jane Evans MW’s top wines from 10 of Rioja’s free-spirited producers



See Sarah Jane Evans MW’s top wines from 10 of Rioja’s free-spirited producers

 


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