ABSTRACT

This title was a prize winner at the OIV (International Organisation of Vine and Wine) Awards 2023.

The History of Rioja Wine offers an informative, chronological and in-depth account of Rioja wine from the mid-nineteenth century to the present.

This book illuminates the fascinating and largely unknown success story of Rioja wine. Drawing on illustrative sources, the volume traces the economic, social, cultural and political evolution of Rioja wine from the 1850s to the present day, concluding with a reflection on the lesson its appealing success story offers to any lover of history and wine. The book is adorned with historical photographs throughout, the majority previously unpublished.

An ideal companion both for students interested in Spanish history and wine enthusiasts more generally, this volume offers readers the opportunity to uncork the secrets of Rioja’s wine.

chapter 1|12 pages

An intruder at the royal table

chapter 2|14 pages

Everything started with a crisis

chapter 3|24 pages

Taste and status

The invention of the “gourmet” in early bourgeois society

chapter 4|8 pages

A voice in the wilderness

chapter 5|28 pages

The Médoc connection

Transnational knowledge transfer or industrial espionage?

chapter 6|32 pages

Conquering the Queen's palate

chapter 7|18 pages

Thwarted

Too modern for the time

chapter 8|18 pages

Quantity beats quality

The challenge of the phylloxera plague

chapter 9|40 pages

The comeback

Shape and consolidation of a brand

chapter 10|16 pages

New wine, new conflicts

Industrial wineries, small winegrowers and the state

chapter 11|23 pages

The globalization trap

Challenges and opportunities for Rioja wine in the twenty-first century