The Regulating Council of Rioja has given the thumbs down to the last vintage from the region, classifying it only as ‘good’, the next-to lowest level of quality.
It was a difficult vintage right the way through. Droughts and low temperatures early in the year lead to uneven budding and setting, while frosts in April compounded the problems, giving the smallest crop for ten years. The production total of 195m litres was almost 25% down on the previous year.
The difficulties continued throughout the summer, with uneven ripening, while atypical summer rains before and during picking led to skin breaks and outbreaks of botrytis.
A statement by the Regulating Council said, “significant diversity in grape quality made the 2002 vintage more challenging, and a large part of the harvest produced less desirable results.”
Indeed, so severe were conditions that 5.35m litres of wine failed to gain the D.O. approval, while over 1m litres were scrapped altogether.
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