Faustino, among the top 10 wine brands in Spain
In the latest supplement of The Drinks Business magazine, one of the brightest gems of our cava sparkling wines, Faustino I Gran Reserva 1994, was awarded the Master Medal on the ´Rioja over 15 years´ category, due to its excellent fruit, character and vibrancy. We are very proud of this achievement, as we´re also honored to be among the top 10 wine brands in Spain with the most brand recognition. Read all the details below:
This year was the earliest harvest in Rioja’s story. While frost and grought lowered yields, according to the Consejo, the 2017 vintage “shows great diversity and excellent quality”.
Unlike some regions, Rioja was coy about revealing the extent of the drop ion volumes compared with 2016 in its vintage statement, merely saying that production would be around 359m million kilograms.
As the region gathered in around 442m kg in 2016, however, the drop is in the region of 18%, although Pablo Franco, technical director of DOCa Rioja, noted: “August rains helped to maintain the ripening balance and raise the production volume expectations”.
Nonetheless, for the first time ever, the regional control board sent out inspectors to the damage in the vineyards and set three levels of maximum yields dependent on the extent of the damage.
In common with the rest of Spain, the warm spring and then the warm summer meant the harvest was early – 15 days earlier than normal, according to Bodegas Beronia’s chef winemaker, Matías Calleja, who echoed the consejo’s verdict that the vintage would be “excellent quality”.
In terms of rising prices, the director general of the DOCa, José Luis Lapuente, said: “It is too early for us to tell how the smaller 2017 harvest will affect Rioja pricing. The quality of the grapes is excellent so we expect the impact of the lower yields to be not so significant to break our balance”.
