Rioja Wines at 40th Anniversary of Wine Experience

Rioja wines starred in Wine Spectator’s New York Wine Experience hosted by Wine Spectator held October 21, 2021-October 23, 2021. This is one of the most anticipated events among attendees. They taste an exciting variety of wines from the world’s best vintners, including top scoring bottlings and rare older vintages.

Among them, they were present at an exclusive lunch that hosted more than 700 people; the meal was framed within the 40th Anniversary of Wine Experience, an event organized in New York by the prestigious Wine Spectator publication that brought together more than 4,000 wine lovers throughout the weekend. The magazine has more than 3 million readers and makes an annual assessment of 15,000 wines from around the world.

Vintners, chefs, and wine lovers gathered together for the event’s 40th anniversary to enjoy three days of creativity, passion, and outstanding wines. The Denomination was present at several of the events that were part of the New York Wine Experience, one of the most anticipated events for wine and gastronomy fans across the country. The activities were held at the famous Marriot Marquis hotel, located in the heart of the great city, and throughout the weekend more than 4,000 people visited the fair. The ticket cost 500 dollars and the profile of the consumers were fans of wine and gastronomy, with high knowledge of the sector, from all corners of the country.

Rioja sponsored one of the fair’s exclusive lunches, an activity that brought together 700 consumers and which, due to capacity reasons, had a waiting list of another 600 people. At lunch, a representation of wines from the region selected by the magazine (taking into account the editors’ own score and assessment) served to harmonize a menu inspired by Spanish cuisine.

The Featured Bodegas: 

Barón de Chirel 2016 from the Herederos del Marqués de Riscal
Torre Muga 2016 from Muga
Gaudium 2016 from Marqués de Cáceres
904 Gran Reserva 2010 from La Rioja Alta
Viñas Tradicionales 2015 from Palacios Remondo
Imperial Gran Reserva 2015 by CVNE
Valserrano Blanco 2015 by La Marquesa
Tempranillo Blanco 2014 by Bodegas Bilbainas
Larrosa Rosado 2020 by Izadi
Mi Lugar 2017 by Dominio de Queiron (Ontañon)
El Cristo de Samaniego de Amaren (Luis Cañas)

The Rioja event was chaired by Tom Matthews, the magazine’s executive editor until last year, who currently heads the Spanish wine section. Mathews highlighted excellence as a fundamental pillar of the region: “what is really special about Rioja is that the quality that ensures compliance with established traditions and standards is mixed with a capacity for innovation and daring that is admirable. This coexistence of tradition and lack of fear of innovation makes Rioja a unique region in the world ”. Mathews dedicated a few words to the management team of the Regulatory Council that could not travel to the meeting from Spain due to the impossibility of flying to the country until next November 8. Along with Mathews, the event was attended by representatives of the Rioja Qualified Denomination of Origin campaign in the United States, Rodrigo Gutiérrez and Jennie Leuzarder, from R\West US agency of record.

A delegation representing the Government of Spain wanted to offer their support to the Rioja wineries by attending the appointment. The table was chaired by the Consul General, Mr. Caridad Batalla who, together with the Minister of Commerce and Economy, Bruno Fernández, and the Minister of Tourism, José Manuel de Juan, represented the executive at the luncheon sponsored by the Denomination.

Apart from the meal, an event held by the magazine in another of the fair’s halls featured different Rioja Bodegas. Marqués de Murrieta winery, in the hands of its owner, Vicente Cebrián, received the award for the best wine in the region. world for its Rioja ‘Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial 2010’.

The Regulatory Council has developed numerous promotional actions in recent months which, through face-to-face and hybrid activities, have allowed the wines to be revalued, focusing on bringing a renewed image of them closer to the consumer, reflecting Rioja’s commitment to quality. The campaign has paid special attention to new figures and to whites and rosés, the latter starring last summer in the ‘Summer Virtual Wine Dinner’, a dinner with a telematic format that brought together almost a dozen of the main specialized media and was featured on portals as relevant as Wine Enthusiast or Forbes.

In recent weeks, in addition to the Wine Spectator’s recognition of Marqués de Murrieta, we found that the Wine and Spirits ranking highlighted 3 Rioja wineries in the first positions on the world’s Top 100 list. In addition, Jesús Martinez Bujanda, a Riojan winemaker based in Washington, was awarded as one of the young promises of the sector in the “Top 40 Under 40 Tastemakers of 2021” ranking by the prestigious Wine Enthusiast magazine.