Spain rings changes
Published:  27 August, 2008

While Spain's best known wine, Rioja, has updated its logo, two names have been added to the list of Spain's Denominación de Origen wine producing regions.

Based on the Tempranillo vine, the quintessential grape variety of Rioja, Rioja's regulatory council hopes its new logo design will appeal to new younger drinkers without alienating its existing devotees.

The logo is being introduced to the domestic Spanish market as well as to key export markets - the UK, US, Germany and Sweden.

Ricardo Aguiriano San Vicente of the consejo said: "We are confident that the new brand identity combines Rioja's great heritage with creativity, encouraging consumers to discover the wide variety of quality wines that Rioja encompasses. The new logo gives us the chance to rejuvenate our brand image."

The 2007 harvest in this north eastern region of Spain fell 2.2 per cent to 412 million kg, (91 per cent red, 9 per cent white).

The DOC approved 391 million kg for wine and, for the first time, wineries were allowed to set aside 10 per cent of the maximum yield as holding stock against small harvests in the future.

MAPA, the Spanish ministry of agriculture, fishing and food, has announced Ribera Arlanza and Tierra del Vino de Zamora as Spanish wine appellations.

The two regions are now official wine DOs (denomination of origin).

The DO Ribera de l Arlanza is situated in the centre of the province of Burgos, around 40 k m south of Madrid. The denomination is composed of 50 municipalities, of which 45 belong to the province of Burgos, and five to Palencia.

The DO Tierra del Vino de Zamora straddles the R ío Duero in the north eastern province of Zamora.

This recognition affects eleven Zamora bodegas, seven from Burgos and two from Palencia. DO Arlanza endorses the white grape varieties Albillo and Viura and the reds Tinta del País, Garnacha, Mencía, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot; while DO Tierra del Vino de Zamora endorses white wines made from Malvas ia, small grain Moscatel, Verdejo, Albillo, Palomino and Godello, and reds made from Tempranillo, Garnacha and Cabernet Sauvignon.