2023 Rioja & Spain Vintage

The vineyard came through an autumn and winter much drier than normal. Bud break was still good, and the season started early: on 20 March, six days earlier than the previous campaign, the first vines were found bleeding with swollen buds. Some vineyards lacked water reserves, with yellowing leaves that limited or even stopped growth before flowering. Storms in May and June were very well received and helped the vines recover. More moderate temperatures in May brought flowering on dates very similar to the previous harvest. Spring frost struck Rioja Oriental; the drop in temperatures favoured millerandage and loose bunches that helped stave off fungal infection. Mildew and oidium stayed on the margins. On 29 June the first bunches beginning veraison were seen in Alfaro, with nights cooler than the year before even though days were warm. July was cold, followed by a sultry, stormy August that stressed the vines. The September rains arrived at a moment of ripening marked by the heat wave of late August, and in some places they were very abundant. Pablo Franco, the Consejo's technical director, said (translated) it "was like a slap for the vineyard", because some zones were already in full harvest. Intake was sped up to avoid disproportionate alcohol peaks, and botrytis was detected in places. The rains lasted several days, overflowing rivers and flooding tracks and plots. The harvest came with a certain advance, clearest in the east and easing as picking moved to higher zones. More than 370 million kilograms of grapes were received, against a forecast potential of about 400 million.

Franco called 2023 a year of contrasts, "especially in Rioja Oriental, which is the zone of greatest variability this year" (translated), speaking to NueveCuatroUno in December 2023. In Rioja Oriental the first part of the harvest had to be sped up because the heat was driving ripening hard; after the rains came a pause in ripening, as many grape compounds were diluted while the grapes recovered better balance. September rainfall was welcomed in Rioja Alta but not in Rioja Oriental, where ripening was more advanced and botrytis infection was an issue. Franco called it ideal that the rain fell where grapes were still going through veraison, and said the highest sites developed very well. Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa were picked later, with no health problems and a long cycle with a good finish, and Franco expected good surprises from them. Reds range from ripe fruit in Rioja Oriental's first pickings before the rains to more fresh-fruit character from the highest zones.

• Rioja Oriental: spring frost

The Consejo Regulador rated 2023 "Muy Buena" (Very Good), a rating ratified by its plenary session on 14 June 2024 after analysis of 3,531 samples tasted blind. The panel numbered 150 professionals, and each sample was tasted by five judges, more than 17,600 sensory evaluations. A total of 259.53 million liters of wine qualified: 217.68 million red, 12.59 million white and 29.25 million rosado. At the official close of the harvest, more than 370 million kilograms of grapes had been received, 40 million of them white, against a forecast potential of about 400 million; Franco said this would cover commercial needs. There were no overlaps between zones, and peak days reached about 19 million kilograms, against about 22 million in 2022.

The Consejo's report says the wines stand out for good structure and pH, with liveliness and freshness greater than usual, making them more fluid, with good weight in the mouth and a soft, round finish. Its technical services stress how much grape selection in the winery mattered. Franco put it this way (translated): "The wines are a feat of heroism by the winemaker, given such complex weather situations and the diversity of grapes received at the winery." In the Consejo's assessment, the reds stand out for their heterogeneity, the whites show very good definition and balance, and the rosados are moving toward more floral aromas and paler colours, with good volume and freshness. In December 2023 Franco told NueveCuatroUno the wines showed somewhat less colour and a lighter structure but a surprisingly good level of freshness, with round, not vegetal, tannins. Some wineries rejected trailers of grapes that missed their quality standards. JancisRobinson.com calls quality variable and dependent on location.