Rioja Consejo reacts to Artadi exit

The governing body of Rioja has released a statement reacting to Artadi’s decision to leave the DOCa, accusing the estate of “encouraging potential splits”.

Keen to publically address Artadi’s decision to leave the DOCa in December, the Consejo spoke of its regret that the prestigious bodega had severed ties with the DOCa.

“We lament Artadi’s decision as it suggests a unilateral withdrawal from the profound added value the Rioja DOCa offers; an undeniable value that the bodega has benefitted from throughout its professional path,” the statement said.

“We are surprised that after having acquired notoriety as much for its own work as belonging to the Rioja DOCa, the same project is suddenly of no interest to them.

“The company’s declarations in both the press and public forums haven’t led us to concrete reasons that identify the factors that have made them uncomfortable.

Juan Calos Lopez de Lacaille of Artadi has left the Rioja DOCa

“The decision has denigrated the same Conesejo that cemented the bodega’s career path setting the stage for self-seeking voices to highlight supposed disagreements that seek to encourage potential splits,” it added.

The statement also defends the Consejo’s attempts to recognise single vineyard wines.

“It is surprising that, at the same time as the Consejo is propsing to recognise single vineyard wines according to their origins, paying special attention to the vineyard, Artadi hasn’t wanted to participate in the debate or even wait for our results,” it said.

“The Consejo has taken the appropriate measures to put a stop to the consequences of Artadi’s exit and continues to ensure that the 400 million bottles of Rioja sold annually remain a benchmark for quality wines worldwide,” it added.

Artadi left the following statement on its website on 30 December 2015: “Since the beginning, our conviction has always been that the value of great wines is closely linked to the soil, the vineyards and the people.

“Regions such as Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne offer the consumer wines that are a reflection of their origin, giving one a true sense of place.

“We believe it is essential to offer consumers the opportunity to discover the diversity of our land, which gives our wines a distinguishing character and authenticity.

“In line with all that, and in order to fully respect and transmit our unique origin, we have taken the decision to leave the Consejo Regulador of the DOCa Rioja.

“It has been a long and pondered decision based on the intention of producing wines with a clear message from our land, our vineyards and our landscapes. We believe we will be more constructive from the outside, in order to better generate true sensibility for the great values found in our region. We face this new chapter with optimism and excitement and cherish this responsibility”.

In January over 150 winemakers, merchants and wine writers signed a manifesto created by winemaker Telmo Rodriguez in defence of Spanish terroir.

The manifesto aims to highlight the potential of Spain’s top terroirs and shift the focus in Spain towards its rich winemaking heritage and away cheap, mass-produced wine with no sense of place.

“We call upon the Regulatory Boards to be sensitive to the new wine reality that is emerging all over Spain and to approach a classification of the land in terms of quality,” it said.

Among those to have signed the manifesto are Artadi’s Juan Carlos Lopez de Lacalle, Miguel Angel de Gregorio of Finca Allende, Peter Siseck of Pingus, Jesus Barquin of Equipo Navazos, and wine writers Victor de la Serna.