Outside, the Manhattan skyline was etched vividly against a stormy sky. The vivid colours brought out by the dramatic rains that had fallen hours before, brought an electric energy to the room at Decanter’s Fine Wine Encounter as the 10 wines for our masterclass, celebrating the centenary of the DOCa, were poured by our team.
Vividness, energy and character would be recurring themes throughout 75 minutes of exploration and discovery, covering the complex and rich history of Spain’s oldest denomination of origin.
Scroll down for notes and scores for all Rioja masterclass wines
A personal journey
Jonathan Eicholz MS and I guided attendees through a tasting journey – packed with information but also a great deal of personal insight – across Rioja’s long history, patchwork of terroirs, evolving styles and exciting producers (old and new).
The masterclass was as much about Rioja’s last 100 years of history as the region’s exciting potential and future ahead, forged by an interesting, creative friction between tradition, innovation and historical reinterpretation.
It was impossible not to bring our excitement to the table: it started well before the event itself, when we were, in collaboration with DOCa Rioja, selecting the wines to be tasted at the masterclass.
The final (stellar) line up inevitably left out hundreds of other great examples – many of which could be tasted at the Fine Wine Encounter’s Rioja Bar and dedicated tasting area, with 10 producers in attendance.
But it came together as a coherent, particularly representative snapshot of the best Rioja has to offer and of the diverse facets of its regional identity.
The Rioja Bar at Decanter’s New York Fine Encounter 2025
Evolving canon
We started, prompted by the iconic Castillo de Ygay Gran Reserva Especial Blanco, with an overview of the origins of the DOCa.
It’s impossible to understand the latter without delving into the founding ethos of many of the wineries that ‘created’ classical Rioja, ultimately changing the course of Spanish wine as a whole.
Rioja’s ongoing impact on the country’s wine industry and culture is inextricably linked to how Rioja producers were able to hone their styles (individual and regional) while always allowing space for innovation and evolution.
It is these concepts that catalysed the transition from classical to modern to post-modern Rioja (and, I argued, the current transition to post-post-modern), with an interesting overlap of approaches and styles.
The pair formed by La Rioja Alta’s 904 and Remírez de Ganuza’s Reserva helped to understand the changes – in the vineyard and cellar – that supported these transitions, while also underscoring the role played by specific entrepreneurs and winemakers in Rioja’s trajectory and, at times tectonic, shifts.
Creative friction
The understanding of the different stylistic (some would say philosophical) chapters of DOCa Rioja’s history, dovetails with the analysis of the different interpretations of terroir and tradition that they represent.
In recent years, a renewed interest in varieties once frowned upon and in the granularity of Rioja’s complex geology and microclimates, fast-tracked both stylistic and legal changes. A new territorial-based classification – with Viñedo Singular (single vineyard) wines at the top, now sits alongside the longstanding ageing categories (Crianza, Reserva, Gran Reserva).
Two single-vineyard bottlings – Bodegas Ysios’ Finca el Nogal and Palacios Remondo’s Finca La Montesa – helped to contextualise this new framework.
They also triggered an interesting discussion on whether the concurrent classification systems work complementarily, or rather serve a way for producers to assert their specific stance on the direction DOCa Rioja should take (i.e. terroir- vs. style-led).
Beyond Tempranillo
The Garnacha-based La Montesa also cued another of Rioja’s hottest topics at the moment: varieties other than Tempranillo stepping into the spotlight.
Eicholz explained that the supremacy of Tempranillo is in fact a modern development in Rioja.
A renewed interest – by consumers and producers alike – in Mazuelo, Graciano and, foremost, Garnacha has happened in tandem with the rediscovery of old vineyards (many planted to intricate field blends) and the exploration of terroirs in higher-altitude, remote locations.
Meanwhile, this exploration has also added different layers to Rioja’s so-called white revolution, expanding its lexicon well beyond Viura – with Maturana Blanca delivering particularly exciting results.
Looking ahead
We closed the masterclass with an excited look at the future: Rioja’s output is, both Jonathan and I argued, one of the world’ most exciting at the moment, delivering equally interesting classics and genre-defying wines.
These navigate the overlap of tradition and modernity with creative, at times teasing, ease. Luis Cañas’ El Palacio (one of the stand-outs at our Rioja Report 2025) and Vinos en Voz Baja’s Nace La Sierra (a particularly apt bookend to Ygay’s white) served as the perfect example of this fertile interaction of past and future.
And the perfect coda to a session that left attendees wanting more and making a bee line to the Rioja Bar.
