Rioja follows the Ebro across La Rioja, the Basque Country and Navarre and is divided into Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental. The west is cooler and more Atlantic, the east warmer and drier. In 1991 Rioja became Spain's first DOCa.
Its ageing categories, crianza, reserva and gran reserva, set minimum times in barrel and bottle. For a kosher project this matters directly: the longer the oak ageing, the more new barrels the kosher lot needs, since wood that held non-kosher wine cannot be used.
Kosher Rioja is well established on export markets, for example the Ramón Cardova wines certified by the Orthodox Union.
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