Our partnership with La Riojana Co-op in Argentina enables us to get unique, co-op made products at a great price while benefitting the communities who grow the ingredients. Direct co-op trade has saved our shoppers thousands of dollars on quality Riojana wine and olive oil! In May, 2017, several members of our staff traveled to La Rioja province to visit the co-op and maintain the strong ties we’ve forged. We toured the vineyards and winery and learned about the community projects that have resulted from the fair trade prices and premiums paid to farmers. This is one in a series of posts about the trip.
By Kelley Turlington, Weaver Street Market in Southern Village Wellness Department
Chief winemaker Dr. Rodolfo Griguol came to work with La Riojana in 1984, but he was an unofficial part of the winery long before that. “The winery is my house,” he said. What might sound like hyperbole from anyone else couldn’t be truer coming from Dr. Griguol. He quite literally grew up playing in the vineyards. He said, “I have spent my life in this cooperative, right from playing in these yards as a child, to taking the role of head of wine-making over 30 years ago.”
Dr. Griguol’s father was an original member of the cooperative. As he led us on a tour of the winery in Chilecito, Argentina, Dr. Griguol pointed out the concrete tanks that they began with in 1940. He noted that recent research has shown that wine keeps better in concrete than in stainless steel. At Riojana, they adjust the wine as it ages by adding pieces of oak and/or oxygen to the concrete tanks, depending on the notes they want to develop in the wine.
Later, Dr Griguol shared some of his philosophies of wine-making. Officially he aims to “produce wines with great varietal expression from the best quality grapes.” But he also shared that he strives to create wines that are accessible and easy to drink: everyday wines that can be enjoyed by everyone. In my experience—and I have tried a lot of Riojana wines—they offer great quality at a price that you just can’t beat. My parents drive down to North Carolina from Michigan to buy cases of the Malbec Bonarda. I like to think they come to visit me as well, even as their trips seem to coincide with the biannual Weaver Street wine shows.
After touring the bottling facility and meeting many members of the co-op, I had the opportunity to do a full-scale wine tasting hosted by Dr. Griguol. As I walked into the dining room, I spied a table holding almost 20 bottles of wine, some familiar to me from our Weaver Street selection, some I had never seen before. I tasted a few of my favorites that we carry at Weaver Street: The Rose, a Cabernet/Malbec blend with notes of raspberry and wild, barely ripe, strawberries. The Pinot Noir Reserva, so smooth and fruity, one of those great reds that is refreshing, even on a hot day. I could drink the Pinot Noir Reserva or the Rose any day of the week, and often, I do!
La Riojana sells wines all over the world. They create wines and labels to suit the customer base in each region or for particular wine buyers’ requests. I tasted a few of these selections, like the Raza Selection Malbec/Shiraz. It is a 50/50 blend of Malbec and Shiraz grapes. The Raza also carries the distinction of being certified organic and fair trade, which is the ultimate goal for all their wines. They move ever closer to this goal as an increasing number of their small producers are able to get organically certified. (Two of my fellow travelers on the trip were organic farmers from a certifying agency in California. They had come to Argentina to visit farmers and advise them on how to increase their organic and sustainable farming methods.) We finished the tasting with two sparkling wines, one Dolce and one Brut. I love a dry sparkling wine, so this was a perfect end for me. My tasting note on the Santa Florentine Brut de Torrontes simply says “delicious.”