History of Rioja wine
Throughout the Middle Ages, pilgrims to the shrine of St. James at Santiago de Compostela passed through the region and carried back with them the reputation of wines from the area.Vineyards were established at settlements near modern-day Calahorra and Logroño and bodegas soon sprang up in order to supply the Roman troops.Archaeological exploration has uncovered evidence of a local cistern from that period with the capacity to hold 75,000 liters of wine.[5] The popular pilgrimage route el Camino de Santiago took thousands of Christian pilgrims right through the heart of the Rioja throughout the Middle Ages, just as it does today.Despite this success, the regional authorities dictated that the all Rioja wines, whether destined for foreign or domestic consumption, must be the same price, regardless of the added expense incurred by oak aging.[6] The Duke de la Victoria owned a bodega in Logroño and spent considerable time in London during a period of exile following the defeat of the Carlists.It was there that he and an aide, Colonel Luciano Murrieta, discussed ways in which to modernize the Rioja wine industry, with the aim of competing for the sizable British market.[9] In the 1850s, the fungal disease powdery mildew began to ravage vineyards in nearby Galicia, opening up the market up for Rioja bodegas, which had been only slightly affected.
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