1. Charivari drink Rioja the dodger Could a crafty change of grape mean a change in fortune?

2. From a small Spanish province called La Rioja come HUARTE wines.

3. A hot summer, Rioja started it's harvest at the end of August, until the middle of October.

4. dry red table wine from the Rioja region of northern Spain.

5. White Rioja – The Spaniards love the flavors oak adds to their wines and many white Rojas are packed with spicy oak nuances.

6. Rioja wines are embraced by the oldest Designation of Origin in Spain, which was officially recognized in 1925.

7. High-end Rioja producers will sometimes age their wines up to a decade in American oak to get the desired earthy, vanilla character.

8. C. Rioja this week, after visiting Toro and Ribera del Duero, and will add wines to the list already published.

9. The Rioja is more complex, and deeper flavors can be isolated upon further tastings.

10. When phylloxera reached the Rioja in 1890, it was already a major force in the international wine trade and growers were able to avoid worse damage by planting grafted vines.

11. Rioja has a remarkable capacity to age: this can be cellared for at least 5 years.

12. Hugo says: Good rioja is a blend of different local varieties, and for the larger producers is also a blend from grapes grown in different districts.

13. Its spiritual home is in Rioja and Navarra where it constitutes around 70% of most red blends.

14. Mr Menem applied such nonsense in the state of La Rioja, where he is governor; it has gone broke.

15. Bodegas Muga is one of the top wineries in La Rioja comprised of approximately 50 hectares of vineyards.

16. So different to all the guys that ply you with rioja.

17. Next comes a late, long lunch at a restaurant with local specialities – such as black pudding, chorizo and rioja – before rejoining the train.

18. Manchego has an intense flavor, so enjoy it solo with bread, served with olives and meat or accompanied by a full-bodied red wine – a Rioja makes sense.

19. "Some of the most expensive wines in Spain come from the Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa regions," Pancho Campo, the founder and president of the Wine Academy of Spain, says.

20. RED WINES: There are two ways of making red wine in Rioja .

21. Early evening there may be another sightseeing trip followed by a late restaurant dinner – perhaps cured beef, lamb casserole, more rioja and creamy puddings.