Marqués de Cáceres launches organic Rioja

Marqués de Cáceres has launched its first ever organic Rioja with the Nordic markets in mind.

The new organic Rioja from Marqués de Caceres called Bio

The new wine, which was shown at Vinexpo Bordeaux in June, contains 90% Tempranillo and 10% Graciano grapes from a 14 hectare organic single vineyard near the Marqués de Cáceres winery in Cenicero.

According to Anne Vallejo, PR and marketing manager for producer, around 50,000 bottles have been made of the wine, which is called Marqués de Cáceres Bio, and will be sold in the on-trade in Norway and Finland.

The wine has a “young and fruity” character according to Vallejo due to the use of carbonic maceration for the organically-grown grapes.

Currently there are few organic Riojas on the market, with just a handful of examples with international distribution – Paternina’s Banda Verde and Artesa’s Organic Rioja being the most widely available.

Vallejo also told db that Marqués de Cáceres was pleased with the sales success of its first project outside Rioja: an Albarino from Rias Baixas in Galicia.

The producer, which makes around 10 million bottles of Rioja each year, stepped outside its home region in 2010 when an importer of Marqués de Cáceres in the US asked for an Albarino.

By 2011 Marqués de Cáceres had sourced its first wine from outside Rioja and by Christmas last year it had gained a listing for the Albarino in the UK at Majestic Wine, which already stocks the producer’s lightly oaked white Rioja called Antea.

Vallejo said the take-up for the Albarino, called Deusa Nai, had encouraged Marqués de Cáceres to consider embarking on further white wine projects outside Rioja.

However, it has no plans to source wines from outside Spain.