Places compared
Rioja Alta vs Rioja Alavesa
Two of Rioja’s three subzones, on opposite banks of the same river.
Which to choose
Choose
Rioja Alavesa
You want aromatic lift and freshness, or you want to try the young carbonic style the region actually drinks.
Worth knowing
Neither subzone appears on most labels. A great many bodegas blend across all three and say nothing, so the distinction is more useful for understanding the region than for shopping in it.
Where they differ
Written rather than computed. A place has no taste profile of its own — the wines made there do, and they vary — so averaging one into existence would produce a number for every dimension and a meaning for none.
Position
Rioja Alta
The western and highest part of the region, upstream on the Ebro, containing Haro.
Rioja Alavesa
The north bank, on terraces directly beneath the Sierra de Cantabria, administratively in the Basque province of Álava.
Soil
Rioja Alta
Calcareous clay on the higher ground, with alluvial gravel and sand nearer the river.
Rioja Alavesa
Poor, shallow, chalky clay over limestone close to the surface.
Style
Rioja Alta
The most structured and longest-lived of the three, and the backbone of most Gran Reserva.
Rioja Alavesa
The most aromatic and finest-boned — more perfumed, a little lighter, with high acidity.
Local tradition
Rioja Alta
Home of the great nineteenth-century bodegas that clustered around Haro’s railway station.
Rioja Alavesa
Traditional home of carbonic-maceration Rioja — whole-bunch fermented, bright, and drunk young.