Climate change in Rioja wines, fact or fiction?

Long time ago we wanted to try (or to check), if climate change is a reality in Rioja wines. Last year we were selecting some plots to develop a very interesting test. We wanted to compare the wine made from higher vineyards (always above 750 meters high), with the lower conventional wine (between 350 and 500 meters). To give even more character to this particular wine, we just went ahead only with which the ones that were facing north. We were trying to give to the wine cooler temperatures, less hours of sunshine annually and important thermal gradient between night and day. With these conditions, the plots really were micro -plots, fairly old and with very low production of grapes. So, we created the SANTALBA COTAS ALTAS (or in english, SANTALBA HIGH TOPS).

Wine made from grapes from Tempranillo (60%) and Grenache (40 %), from micro-plots situated on slopes at high altitude and north facing. The slow ripening of the grapes gives this wine fresh and fruity aromas, light body and low alcohol content (more information here) .