The early years

Towards the end of the 19th Century, European vineyards and the whole winemaking industry were stricken by a devastating plague - phylloxera. This tiny insect made its first appearance in Bordeaux in about 1870.

The owners of French wine cellars began to look for new areas to substitute their own afflicted wines. Before long they arrived in the Rioja, at that time still free of the dreaded plague. They found a region with a thousand-year-old tradition in the production of wine, but with certain shortcomings regarding modern technical facilities which could be used to age and preserve wines for several years. The region was, however, historically receptive to new cultures and knowledge. This interest in new technology on the part of the people of the Rioja led to feverish activity and our wineproducers quickly learnt the new techniques introduced by the French from Bordeaux.

As a result of this restlessness, several new bodegas sprang up. Among them was LA RIOJA ALTA, S.A.

On July 10th 1890, Don Daniel-Alfredo Ardanza y Sanchez managed to convince Doña Saturnina García Cid y Gárate, Don Dionisio del Prado y Lablanca, Don Felipe Puig de la Bellacasa y Herrán and Don Mariano Lacort Tapia to sign, in the presence of Don Vicente García Calzada, the public notary of Haro, the formation deed of the SOCIEDAD VINICOLA DE LA RIOJA ALTA. The original capital was 112,500 ptas, of which only 20% was paid up. With these 22,500 ptas an exhilarating business venture got under way in which the five founder members realised their common dream of producing high quality wines.

The bodega was situated in VICUANA, the celebrated station quarter of Haro. The land was the private property of the Puig de la abBellacasa and Ardanza families and rented to the Company. It was not until ai1924 that the Company obtained full possession of the land it occupied.

However, the founding of our bodega was not the only important event to occur in Haro in 1890. That same year electric lighting was installed for the first time in Spain, in Haro and in Jerez. For that reason, and for others rather less refined, the saying "Haro, Paris and London" became popular among local wits to describe the Wonders of the World. Another popular expression of the time, still remembered nowadays as we approach our city, was "Ya llegamos a Haro, que se ven las luces" ("We'coming to Haro, you can see the lights").

However, to return to our subject, the European spirit, so talked about today, was very much alive in the Rioja and in our bodega in those early days. A Frenchman, Vigier, was brought in as technical director and soon the dominant means of production was what we now call the "classical" process. The original installations consisted of three plants which still exist as offices, a cooperage and the Vigier plant. In a separate building, was the fermentation plant where the 33 American oak fermentation vats were installed. These vats have been used to hold our grapes for the first100 years. They are still used today, although now use is also made of stainless steel.

Only three months after the Company was formed, the first 3,500 Bordeaux casks were purchased. It has to be borne in mind that, at that time, wine was sold in its own cask. The prices of that period seem almost a joke today; a 225 litre cask, vintage 1890, including both wine and cask itself, was on sale for 200 ptas. Of course, in that first year the grapes cost 1.375 ptas. per "arroba" (25 lbs) - the equivalent of 0.13 ptas/kg.

A year later, on July 16th 1891, the company was renamed LA RIOJA ALTA. In 1941 the company took on the name by which it is known today, LA RIOJA ALTA, S.A.

In 1892, shortly after founding the bodega, 683,627 kgs of grapes were already being processed. But a few months later the vines were decimated by phylloxera; the enterprising vinegrowing/winemaking sector suffered a tremendous blow. Those were hard years, in which the spirit of enterprise of vineyard and bodega owners was put to the test in order to recover from the most serious crisis ever to take place in the European winemaking industry. Huge investment was necessary to recover from the consequences of the plague. The largest was the importing of American vine stocks, immune to Phylloxera, so that native vines such as "Tempranillo" could be grafted on to them. The crisis however could not last forever and our founders survived it more convinced than ever of the necessity to continue producing quality wines. It was then that the decision was taken to increase the production of bottled wine.

The first reference we have to the price of bottled wine, sold to a household in Madrid, dates from the year 1902, in which a bottle of the year 1894 (an 8-year old vintage!) was sold for 2 ptas and one of 1897(5 years old) was sold for 1.5 ptas.

On February 26th 1892, our trademark and symbol were used for the first time. The river Oja flowing through four oak trees - it is still in use today. On September 21st 1908, this trademark was certified by the Ministry of Agriculture and renewed in 1916, as is shown at the beginning of this book.

In both Europe and America the company'wines were soon appreciated. At a time when exhibitions and competitions were so fashionable, the company achieved, among others, the following awards:

• 1893.Gold Medal at the Columbus Exhibition, Chicago.
• 1895.Silver Medal at the World Fair, Bordeaux.
• 1910.Gran Premio, Buenos Aires.
• 1911.Grand Prix, Toulouse.
• 1930.Gold Medal at the Latin-American Exhibition, Seville and the Gran Premio at the Second International Congress of Vines and Wines, Barcelona.

Since then, it has been Company policy not to enter any kind of winetasting competition or exhibition. Although sometimes our importers and customers enter our wines.

The world of winemaking is full of tradition, classicism and respect for the past. Nowadays, this respect is kept alive by the way the grapes are processed, fermenting in the same vats that were used 100 years ago and racking by candlelight. Tradition is also guarded through the tradenames given to our wines; the majority of them have origins closely connected to our history.

In the past, the only tradename marketed was the present Reserva 890. For many years, in commemoration of the year of our foundation, it was called "Reserva 1890", but legal requirements made it necessary to drop the first figure. This also happened later with the "Reserva 1904". It would seem that, at a time when the year of production was not legally required on the label, a tradename like this caused some confusion for the winetaster especially regarding the vintage.

The first manager of the bodega was one of the founders, Don Mariano Lacort Tapia, who remained in this post until 1922, with a salary (in his first year) of 5,000 ptas. Probably one of the first management problems he had to face was how to physically export the wine to America. One must remember that, at that time, Spain had very close relations with the New World. Afterwards came the Cuban war and the loss of the colonies in 1898.

Those were years in which most wines were sold in cask and bottled by the customer at their destination, which is why for the first shipments to America the wine was sent in cask. These voyages in oak cask were of an extraordinary importance for the Rioja. It was thanks to them that notice was taken of the healthy influence of the cask on the quality of the wines. Thus it was something so seemingly unimportant as the means of transport that became a determining factor for the future of Rioja wines. It had a direct influence on their ageing process and in achieving their present quality.

Tradition would have it that it was also at the beginning of the century, when the vineyards were afflicted by the tragedy of phylloxera, that the term "Reserva" ("Reserve") came into use. It is said that, due to the scarcity of wine at the time, Frenchmen used to leave pitchers of wine in establishments they frequented, asking them to be kept in "reserve" until their next visit. Whether it be fact or fiction, this idea of a wine, being especially "reserved" is what now defines the "Reservas" of the Rioja.

In 1904, Don Alfredo Ardanza, founder of La Rioja Alta and also owner of "Bodegas Ardanza" (the Ardanza Wine Cellar), proposed the merger of both companies, a proposition which was unanimously agreed upon. To celebrate this special occasion, which happened to coincide with one of the best harvests in the history of the Rioja, a very special wine was marketed, called "Reserva 1904". Today this wine, now called "Gran Reserva 904", is one of the most delicate and complex red wines of all those under the Rioja Control of Origin.

The two "Gran Reservas 890 and 904" were offered originally in sealed bottles protected by straw and packed in wooden boxes. Years later wiring was added to these bottles. The wire netting, like sealing wax, acted as a protective seal to prevent unscrupulous persons from falling to the temptation of changing the contents of the bottle for others of inferior quality and then reselling it. Nowadays the wiring is used for aesthetic reasons and to maintain a link with our past which we have no wish to lose.

In the past everything was different, even moderation in drinking. Tasio, the company'official racking expert at the beginning of the century, used to say that he "only drank four swigs a day". Ah, but each swig was four mouthfuls and each mouthful a pint. That made a total of about eight litres!

Racking was also different. The casks were lifted by hand. At the end of a stack of casks a landing was created where the stacker rested. Thus, work continued, little by little, until five rows had been formed. Wooden rails were put in place along which the casks were rolled and lifted into position.

It was hard, physically demanding work, but it was the only method known in the Rioja for many decades. Until, in the mid-fifties, Don Carmelo Hernando, a man from Haro, invented the cask loader, with a complicated system of counterweights. This was one of the first applications of "high technology" in the bodegas of Haro.