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Six icon wines from Rioja

These emblematic wines represent the very best of Rioja, but what makes them stand out? Whether it’s down to terroir, winemaking, ageing, or something else that simply defies description, each one has a reputation that precedes it – for good reason.

Leaving aside its most traditional meaning as a devotional image of Christ, an icon has come to mean ‘a person or thing serving as a representative symbol’, a symbol that may or may not be worthy of veneration, but certainly merits respect.  I have selected six wines from Rioja that, I feel, meet this criterion. 

The choice was relatively easy, although some very worthy contenders didn’t make the final line-up, including Artadi’s El Pisón, Telmo Rodríguez’s Remelluri and Benjamin Romero’s Contador, as well as several others. I have focused on wines and wineries that lend an historical perspective, and that capture the very best of the notion of tradition in this celebrated DOCa.


Scroll down to see notes and scores for 12 wines from six iconic Rioja wineries



See notes and scores for 12 wines from six iconic Rioja wineries


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