DOCa Rioja receives recognition for three new singular vineyards

Spain's Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has officially recognized three new “singular vineyards” within the DOCa Rioja denomination. According to the official state bulletin, one of these vineyards is located in La Rioja, while the other two are situated in the province of Álava in the Basque Country.

The “singular vineyard” designation is applied to specific delimited areas smaller than a municipality that possess unique agrogeological and climatic characteristics. To qualify, vineyards must be at least 35 years old and adhere to strict yield limits: a maximum of 5,000 kilograms of red grapes or 6,922 kilograms of white grapes per hectare.

Production requirements include exclusive use of grapes from the recognized vineyard, manual harvesting, and a mandatory “excellent” rating in organoleptic analysis by the Regulatory Council. This latest addition brings the total number of recognized singular vineyards in DOCa Rioja to 167 since 2019.