Wine of the Year: Rioja

Rioja doesn’t have any notions about itself. Unlike so many other wines, Rioja is not up its own arse. If you don’t like the superficial pizzazz of Italian wines, or the pretentious fussiness of French wines, or the plodding sameness of New World wines, then Rioja is the tipple for you. In many respects, I feel Rioja wines resemble this website. Rioja is uncomplicated yet substantial. It’s a serious wine. But it’s not humourless. I like my wines heavy, but agile and flexible. I want big fruity, flavours. I want the depth of oak. I want wines that bring me closer to nature. Rioja is not antiseptic. It’s not made by computers. It’s rough around the edges, but it’s also deeply civilised. It’s wild at heart, but it’s not completely out of control. I want wines that are simple, but not simplistic. I don’t want my wines to ask me too many questions, to set me too many challenges. I don’t want clever conversation. I don’t want to work that hard. I want a wine, not a crossword puzzle. I don’t like wines that are impertinent. A wine should not smack of adolescence. It should be solid rather than frivolous. It should be confident in itself. It should feel no need to go out of its way to impress. I don’t like wines that do little tap-dances, or that try to dazzle with summersaults. There’s nothing worse than an insecure wine. I like my wines to have been around the block. I want wines that have a scandalous history but a well-behaved, respectable present. But I don’t like my wines to be docile either. Nobody wants to drink a servile wine. Nobody wants a wine that has nothing to say for itself. Well, I reckon Rioja has it all. It has the balance just right. The wine of the year.