Rioja vintage guide 2000-2020: drink now or wait?

Rioja can proudly claim that its wines, both red and white, have the ability to age.

For more than a century, the region has mastered the art of long ageing, releasing wines when they are ready to drink, the tannins tamed, the aromas displaying a wide array of nuances.

Legendary 20th-century vintages include 1948, 1952, 1955, 1964, 1982, 1994 and 1995.

The crianza, reserva and gran reserva indications refer to increasing length of time spent ageing in oak barrels. While crianza is the friendly, affordable choice to drink straight away, reserva and gran reserva are more likely to age – but their real potential will depend on the quality of the vintage and the style and intention of the producer.

The current popularity of the gran reserva category proves a renewed interest in mature, long-lived wines, with classic labels from the likes of La Rioja Alta, López de Heredia or Marqués de Murrieta reaching the status of cult wines. Reserva is more of a mixed bag, ranging from affordable blends that just fulfil the legal ageing requirements to some top reds.

Finally, behind aged wines labelled as genéricos stand terroir-driven producers who reject the idea of equating quality directly to the time spent in barrel. The very best genéricos are also intended to age, but records in this case only go back as far as the 1990s.

Rioja vintages: Drink now or wait?

2020

• Score: 3+
• Drink: Soon/Keep
• Difficult year due to heavy spring rains, mildew and Covid. Fresh wines with moderate alcohol.

2019

• Score: 4+/5
• Drink: Soon/Keep
• Perfect year with low yields and loose bunches. The wines are expected to be long lived, in line with 2001.

2018

• Score: 3+/4
• Drink: Keep or drink
• Generous yields and a long ripening season led to fresh wines with lower alcohol. Selection was crucial.

2017

• Score: 3
• Drink: Keep or drink
• Extremely short, early-ripening vintage marked by frost with outstanding wines in frost-free areas.

2016

• Score: 4
• Drink: Keep or drink
• Mild temperatures in the latest stages of ripening brought great balance in a rare year of quantity and quality.

2015

• Score: 4
• Drink: Keep or drink
• The good weather led to an early harvest with higher alcohol levels; cool areas performed better.

2014

• Score: 3
• Drink: Keep or drink
• Rainfall during harvest truncated a promising vintage, except for warm and early-ripening areas.

2013

• Score: 2
• Drink: Drink now
• Low temperatures and high rainfall resulted in lighter, almost diluted wines, occasionally with green tannins.

2012

• Score: 3+
• Drink: Drink now
• A third consecutive year of drought meant ripe, powerful wines. Balance was the greatest challenge.

2011

• Score: 3+
• Drink: Keep or drink
• Very healthy grapes after a dry summer. The wines are ripe and structured with slightly low acidity.

2010

• Score: 5
• Drink: Keep or drink
• A textbook growing season with moderate yields gave wines with perfect balance that are ageing well.

2009

• Score: 4
• Drink: Keep or drink
• Rainfall in mid-September offset the dry, hot summer. Expect ripe, Mediterranean-style wines.

2008

• Score: 3+
• Drink: Keep or drink
• One of the coldest vintages of the century with a mild summer and little sun, resulting in lighter wines.

2007

• Score: 4
• Drink: Keep or drink
• A fresh, late-ripening vintage with perfect weather in September. Light, lively wines, evolving well.

2006

• Score: 3+/4
• Drink: Drink
• Early ripening, good quality on average, but warmer than 2004. Overshadowed by 2004 and 2005.

2005

• Score: 5
• Drink: Keep or drink
• Lower rainfall than 2004 and cool nights in the latest ripening stages resulted in high-quality, long-lived wines.

2004

• Score: 5
• Drink: Keep or drink
• A gloomy, wet start to the harvest turned into perfect weather for beautifully balanced, fine, classic Rioja.

2003

• Score: 3
• Drink: Drink now
• Warm vintage with record high temperatures in summer. Approachable wines with limited cellaring potential.

2002

• Score: 2
• Drink: Drink now
• Cold, difficult vintage marked by frost, abnormally low summer temperatures and rainfall during picking time.

2001

• Score: 5
• Drink: Keep or drink
• A dream vintage with an extraordinary ripening season. The best wines are still in great shape.

2000

• Score: 2+/3
• Drink: Drink now
• Despite the dry summer, Rioja reached record production. Old vines produced the best wines

Rioja wines ready to drink now:

The following are a selection of wines tasted by our experts in the past year from vintages that are ready for drinking now. 

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