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Hope you all had a Merry Christmas, and I wish everyone a great Hogmanay

I thought I’d get at least one brief post in over the holidays.

I first need to congratulate Caroline, of Caroline’s Miscellany, for winning the case of 6 bottles of Dinastia Vivanco Crianza to help make a great vinous start to 2009. Caroline was the lucky winner who posted her thoughts on the recent tasting of wines with the London Bloggers, and I’m still grateful to everyone for all the great feedback on the wines. I hope to support more such tastings in 2009, so look out for more opportunities to taste the wines of Dinastia Vivanco.

Secondly, I have to report a certain sadness that the Rioja “bug” does not seem to have taken hold in Canada YET. The selection of Rioja’s available to buy here are very limited, both in Nova Scotia and in Ottawa. There is the ubiquitous Campo Viejo of course, but not much else. However, I was lucky enough to find a Marques de Riscal Reserva 2004 ($24.70) and a Muga Reserva 2004 ($24.95) in a specialist outpost of the LCBO (How romantic is that? The Liquor Control Board of Ontario) so I could share some Rioja wines with my family at Christmas.

I think I ought to make it a mission to attract more Canadian readers to this blog so that they can be better served with selections of interesting Rioja wines, and, you never now, maybe get Dinastia Vivanco listed so you can enjoy them too?

I hope that 2008 has been a good year for you and, despite the gloomy predictions everywhere, that 2009 is better yet.

An increasing number of visitors to this site are coming to look for information on the upcoming Tapas Fantasticas event in Brick Lane, London this weekend (28-29 June, 2008)

It looks like the weather is going to be good, so why not plan on coming along to the event this weekend?

Wine!

Food!

Music!

Activities to keep the kids busy!

What more can you ask for? That’s my agenda for every weekend.

–

“thirstforrioja a proud supporter of both the 2008 American Wine Bloggers Conference and European Wine Bloggers Conference“

The origins of this celebration are both old and new, religious, popular and political. Aren’t all such days?

First, the religious. Technically speaking, 11 June is Saint Barnabas (San Bernabé) Day, most commonly celebrated in Cyprus. San Bernabé, however, is also celebrated in La Rioja, not because the Riojanos have a particular connection to this saint, or to Cyprus for that matter, but because of historical events that happened on this day.

So, to the popular and historical roots. Spain was a rather turbulent place to live in the 15th and 16th Centuries (well, actually it probably always has been). However, in the late 16th Century the French were rather keen on expanding their territory across the mountains and sent an army to take Navarra and on into Logroño. They began a siege on the 25th of May 1521 which lasted 18 days.

According to tradition, the poor people of Rioja had to survive on nothing but bread, fish and WINE. Sounds like a party to me!

In any case, friendly forces from Najera (just an hour up the road on modern transport) came to relieve them and sent the French packing. The date of the liberation was the 11th of June, so lucky St. Barnabas added to his international fame by accident of the religious calendar.

San Barnabé has been celebrated ever since (lots of bread, fish, and, you guessed it, Rioja wine).

And so to the political. Although Rioja is the name used for the wine, including the establishment back in the 1920s of Spain’s first Denominacion de Origen (DO), there was nowhere on the map called “Rioja”. This really started to change in 1977, and in 1978 the first “Dia de La Rioja” was launched to coincide with the celebration of San Bernabé and the survival of Logroño all those centuries before.

2008 is therefore the 30th anniversary of a 487 year-old tradition, and another excuse for a street party.

Anyway, who’s counting?

For more information, click here (and brush up your Spanish)

Rioja has been known as a good source of wines for centuries, probably even growing grapes and making wine in Roman times. However, what John Radford refers to as “Classic” Rioja began in the late 19th Century.

At this time, two key names imported not only the latest winemaking knowledge from France, but also their expensive wooden barrels for ageing it in; these names were (eventually) the Marques de Murrieta in 1852, and the Marques de Riscal in 1858.

It must have been quite a shock for the locals, and the world, to taste these new styles of wines. Before this, wines were probably lucky to make it through fermentation without spoilage, were probably not very dark coloured as winemakers would be unable to keep the juice on the skins for long, and would almost certainly have to be drunk young so they did not oxidise.

Imagine being there to taste the new wines in that context?!

Well, you in a way you can, if you are very lucky and very rich – and quick.

Christies Auction house has a sale called “Finest & Rarest Wines (Sale 7593)” on June 26th which will include Marques de Riscal wines from one of the earliest vintages of these wines, 1863. Considering the first vintage of this wine was 1858, this is as close as anyone will ever get to that discovery feeling … if they ever choose to drink it that is.

If there is anyone out there that has around £1000 burning a hole in their pocket, then why not bid for the one, and only, bottle of this wine. In fact, bring it around! I’ll cook and we can talk about Rioja’s future while we drink its history.

You know how to reach me!

hat-tip to Decanter for the alert about this auction