Rioja is adopting a more aggressive approach in the United States after failing to make headway on US wine lists.

The region’s regulatory body has admitted it is underperforming in the United States and has overhauled its marketing strategy to improve its image and sales.

Ricardo Aguiriano, director of marketing and communication for Rioja’s Consejo Regulador told decanter.com they were changing strategy because the region is particularly disappointed with its performance in the US restaurant trade.

‘You find Tuscany, Bordeaux, Australia, and Chile, and at the end of the wine list you find Spain. We are trying to forge our own category with Rioja highlighted in its own right.’

Written by Rebecca Gibb

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Rebecca Gibb MW
Rebecca Gibb MW
Decanter Magazine & DWWA Judge

Rebecca Gibb MW is a wine journalist and editor who has also founded Bamboozled games, ‘the world’s first wine and spirit puzzle makers’. Having spent six years living in New Zealand, she has recently returned to her native north-east England. While in New Zealand, she became a Master of Wine, graduating top of her class and winning the Madame Bollinger medal for excellence in tasting. A former winner of both the UK’s young wine writer of the year and the Louis Roederer Emerging Wine Writer, her first book The Wines of New Zealand was published in 2018. She also runs wine events and has her own consultancy business The Drinks Project. She was a judge at the 2019 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA).