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Wine region

Rioja

Rioja is a wine region in Spain, home to 356 wineries, producing red, rose, white wines, known for Rioja Blend, Tempranillo, Tempranillo Blend.

Rioja at a glance: predominantly red; known for Rioja Blend, Tempranillo, Tempranillo Blend; wines range from VT to DOCa.
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Rioja's 356 wineries produce predominantly red wine; Tempranillo is the most common single-grape bottling; wines carry DO, DOCa, VT designation.

About the Rioja region

    Location
    Rioja (pronounced [ˈrjoxa]) is a wine region in Spain, with denominación de origen calificada (D.O.Ca., 'Qualified Designation of Origin', the highest category in Spanish wine regulation).
    Climate
    Unlike the more continental climate of the Alta and Alavesa, the Rioja Oriental is strongly influenced by a Mediterranean climate which makes this area the warmest and driest of the Rioja.
    Soils
    Clay-limestone soils occur in the northern part of the Rioja designation, while Rioja Alta and Rioja Oriental also have alluvial and iron-rich clay soils.
    Distinctive
    Located on the western edge of the region and at higher elevations than the other areas, the Rioja Alta is known more for its "old world" style of wine.

Region facts sourced from Official Journal of the European Union, Rioja (EUGI00000003061), Official Journal C, C/2026/565, 29.1.2026, retrieved 2026-07-12. (Commission Decision 2011/833/EU on the reuse of Commission documents), Wikipedia contributors, "Rioja DOCa", Wikipedia, revision 1309242294, retrieved 2026-07-11. (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International).

Characteristic grapes

Rioja is best known for Rioja Blend, Tempranillo, Tempranillo Blend. The most-bottled single-varietal wines here are Tempranillo, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay. Rioja's signature grapes often go into blends, so single-grape bottlings skew toward other varieties.

Wine styles from Rioja

Most common single-grape wines

When Rioja wines are made from a single grape (rather than a blend), these are the most common:

Wine profile

Rioja is predominantly a red-wine region (about 80% of its wines) — expect red wines, often from grapes like Tempranillo.

1,448 distinct Rioja wines tracked, spanning the colours and styles below.

  • Red1,153 · 80%
  • White224 · 15%
  • Rose70 · 5%

Types: Sparkling, Still.

Representative Rioja wines

Selected from stable product-to-region relationships for diversity — not a claim that these are the region's best wines.

  • Altanza — Lealtanza Reserva
  • Miguel Merino — Mazuelo Quinta Cruz
  • Burgo Viejo — Garnacha Old Vine
  • Ramirez Piscina — Seleccion Reserva
  • Torres — Altos Ibericos
  • Remelluri — Blanco
  • Bodega Bilbainas — Vina Zaco Reserva
  • Vina Bujanda — Graciano

Quality designations

Wines here span quality tiers from everyday VT to the strictly-controlled DOCa — you'll find both accessible and prestige bottles.

  • DODenominación de Origen — Spain's controlled-origin designation.
  • DOCaDenominación de Origen Calificada — Spain's top tier, above DO (used by Rioja and Priorat).
  • VTVino de la Tierra — a Spanish regional country-wine category.

Spain wine designations

DO
Denominación de Origen is a Spanish traditional term for wine protected as a DOP that also satisfies additional national requirements.
DOCa
Denominación de Origen Calificada is a Spanish traditional DOP term requiring all Denominación de Origen conditions plus additional controls.
IGP
IGP denotes the EU protected geographical indication scheme for food and wine, linking a product’s quality, reputation or other characteristic to geographical origin.
Vino de calidad de
Vino de calidad de is a Spanish traditional term that may appear on eligible wine protected by a DOP.
VP
Vino de Pago is a Spanish traditional DOP term for wine from a named rural site with distinctive soil and microclimate characteristics.
VT
Vino de la Tierra is the Spanish traditional term used for wine protected by an IGP.
Understanding the wine data
Designation
The protected-origin or administrative category associated with the wine, interpreted using country-aware rules. The same abbreviation can mean different things in different countries, so we only show the meaning approved for that country.
How this ranking is built

Producers are included when WhatDrink has a canonical producer-to-region relationship supported by the catalogue data. Display order may use represented wine count and relationship confidence to provide useful coverage; it is not a ranking of winery quality, prestige, production volume or critical acclaim.

Representative wines are selected from products with a stable relationship to this region, with preference for clear producer identity and a useful spread of producers, wine styles and designations. Inclusion is not an editorial score and does not mean these are the region’s best wines.

Explore Rioja

Ways to browse Rioja — each count is the size of that specific collection (a subset of the 1,448 wines tracked above):

  • Red Rioja (1,153)
  • White Rioja (224)
  • Rose Rioja (70)

How to choose a good Rioja wine

For everyday drinking, VT bottles are the accessible choice; for something special, DOCa signals the region's most tightly-controlled, prestige wines.

FAQs

Where is Rioja?
Rioja ( pronounced [ˈrjoxa] ) is a wine region in Spain, with denominación de origen calificada (D.O.Ca., 'Qualified Designation of Origin', the highest category in Spanish wine regulation).
Which grapes are associated with Rioja?
Rioja is represented in the WhatDrink region dataset by Garnacha, Graciano, Mazuelo, Tempranillo. Grape coverage reflects the products currently linked to the region and is not a complete legal planting register.
What do the designation terms on Rioja wines mean?
DO: Denominación de Origen is a Spanish traditional term for wine protected as a DOP that also satisfies additional national requirements. DOCa: Denominación de Origen Calificada is a Spanish traditional DOP term requiring all Denominación de Origen conditions plus additional controls. VT: Vino de la Tierra is the Spanish traditional term used for wine protected by an IGP. These terms describe geographical or regulatory categories; they do not by themselves guarantee that one producer or bottle is better than another.
How are wineries and producers selected for Rioja?
Producers are included when WhatDrink has a canonical producer-to-region relationship supported by the catalogue data. Display order may use represented wine count and relationship confidence to provide useful coverage; it is not a ranking of winery quality, prestige, production volume or critical acclaim.
How are representative Rioja wines selected?
Representative wines are selected from products with a stable relationship to this region, with preference for clear producer identity and a useful spread of producers, wine styles and designations. Inclusion is not an editorial score and does not mean these are the region’s best wines.
How much wine data does WhatDrink have for Rioja?
The current regional catalogue contains 1448 linked wines from 356 linked producers. Counts describe WhatDrink catalogue coverage and may change as source data is refreshed.

Regional data is aggregated from wine directory and product-catalogue sources; grape and style associations reflect characteristic varieties and may vary by producer and vintage.