New Bar Rioja opens in London dedicated to Spain’s favourite wine region.
Smooth, vanilla tannins and open fruit; Rioja‘s wines are a firm favourite with sommeliers and customers. A must on most restaurant lists, the new Bar Rioja in London proves why.
Sommeliers are getting into diversity of styles that Rioja has to offer. There’s a varied range of wines from Spain’s number 1 region on the market now. White and rosés from Rioja are gaining popularity; their sales make up about 13.23% of total Rioja sold in the UK market, 2% up on last year.*
Perhaps its because people are discovering that Rioja really is a whole wine country not just a region. Rich in its wine culture and heritage, the region is becoming a top spot for wine tourists to sample wines in situ with more and more wine-savvy travellers visiting the region to taste.
Such is the potential for Rioja that Richard Bigg, owner of Camino Group, has just opened the first bar dedicated solely to Rioja – Bar Rioja. Spanish specialist and Caballero del Vino says that it “is the innovation from energetic and enterprising producers creating fabulous and exciting genérico wines outside the traditional regulations.”
Bigg continues, “For me, recently, it’s how amazing the whites are these days and clearly they are here to stay. There were always some phenomenal barrel aged whites, but now there are so many different combinations of single varietals, blends, stainless steel, oak, no oak and cement tanks – the choice is huge.
Bar Rioja, close to King’s Cross Station, at Camino, London, will be focusing on Rioja wines from across the spectrum, including traditional method sparkling wines (“which has certainly surprised our customers”, admits Bigg) and rosés. The idea behind the Rioja dedicated bar is to get visitors to try as many of the styles as possible. Bigg explains that they “have the entire range of 43 wines available by the glass (either 75ml taster size or 125ml glass). The hope is that people will explore the list get to know the region’s wines much better.”
*Facts and figures provided by Nielsen
