LA RIOJANA SUPPORTS LOCAL SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOL WITH FAIRTRADE

On 6th April 2011, La Riojana donated a computer, printer and a voltage stabiliser to the "Amor y Esperanza" school in Chilecito, the Argentine town where La Riojana's main winery is located. This donation was funded by the Fairtrade Premium that La Riojana receives from the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation (FLO) for the sales of Fairtrade certified wines it produces.

The "Amor y Esperanza" school, meaning "Love and Hope" in English, is a special needs school run by the state in Chilecito, which was founded over 24 years ago. In total it looks after 97 pupils with multiple disabilities, such as Downs Syndrome, blindness, deafness and brain damage.

The majority of children who attend this school come from under priviledged families with few financial resources. They are offered education from nursery age to the 3rd grade, equivalent to the level of education given to children aged 8 – 9 years old. Following on from the 3rd grade, they are offered education in manual arts, such as carpentry. The pupils are taught to read, write, and talk, and in the case of the deaf they are taught sign language and in the case of the blind they are taught Braile.

In addition to specialist teachers who look after the different needs of the pupils, the school has a department of dedicated professionals, including an occupational therapist, a psychologist, a speech and language therapist, an educational phychologist and phycotherapist, who help diagnose the pupils' problems on entry the school, their learning ability, and indicate treatments or practices that will help the individual pupils integrate socially to their best ability.

The professional staff that work at the school will be able to use the computer and printer that have been kindly donated by La Riojana to prepare assessment reports on the pupils, to diagnose the individual children, prepare educational material, and use the internet for research.

RAZA MAKES TOP 10 NEW BRANDS IN USA

According to US publication, Wines & Vines, (article dated 4th March 2011) The Symphony IRI Group has ranked La Riojana’s flagship brand “Raza Argentina” within the 2010 Top 10 New Table Wine Brands in the United States.

Raza was first launched in the US in March 2010 and accomplished over US$ 400,000 sales within just 38 weeks in the US market. The brand is currently being sold in 5 states and is moving to national distribution in the summer 2011.

According to the IRI data, Raza Argentina is one of seven non-US brands ranked within the 2010 top 10 new table wine brands, three of which come from Argentina.  This is particularly interesting given that in 2009, according to the Wines & Vines article, the new brands list was dominated by California wines with seven brands.

The new brands ranked by IRI are considered to be those that did not report any sales in major US food and drug stores prior to 4th January 2010 and are based on 52 weeks ending 2nd January 2011.

Walter Carol, export director for La Riojana, commented “This is great news for La Riojana and our Raza brand. We expect to see sales of Raza continue to grow through 2011, especially with the recent addition of Raza Argentina Dolce, our sweeter style sparkling Torrontés.”

LA RIOJANA UNVEILS NEW PACKAGING FOR ECOLOGICA RANGE AT PROWEIN 2011

La Riojana will unveil newly re-designed packaging for its popular range of Fairtrade and organic certified wines Ecologica on booth no. 1, Wines of Argentina stand no. G80 (Hall 6), at this year's ProWein, 27th to 29th March 2011. 

The new look created for the Ecologica range, which includes two dual varietal blends; a Torrontés-Chardonnay and a Shiraz-Malbec , is both attractive and sophisticated, and has successfully added a more premium feel to the range.

In addition to this, La Riojana will be showcasing a large selection of wine, including new vintage releases, from La Rioja province on its stand, where visitors will have the chance to sample wines from La Riojana's individual Fairtrade and organic certified wine ranges as well as wines from its conventional flagship range Raza Argentina.

Under the Fairtrade wine umbrella, La Riojana will show four Reserva wines from its Solombra range, all new releases from the 2010 vintage: Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Pinot Grigio plus a duo varietal blend: Torrontés-Chardonnay. In addition to this, La Riojana will be presenting Fair & Square, an innovative range of Fairtrade certified wines presented in compact 1-litre Tetra prisma containers, which are non-breakable, lightweight and whose packaging is 100% recyclable.

Under the Fairtrade-organic wine umbrella, as well as showing its two Ecologica dual varietal wines, La Riojana will show its Viñedos de la Posada range, including a single varietal Torrontés 2010 and Malbec 2010.

Under the conventional wine umbrella, La Riojana will show its flagship range Raza Argentina including a Torrontés and Malbec from the varietal and Reserva range, as well as a Gran Reserva Malbec and two sparkling wines – a Brut style Torrontés and a sweeter style Torrontés called Dolce.

Nick Day, sales director for UK and Europe comments: "We are very much looking forward to being at ProWein this year, not only will we be showing many attractive wines but many of them are available in large commercial quantities, which should appeal to many of the trade visiting this year's show."

Nick will be joined at ProWein by Walter Carol, export director for La Riojana and Bjorn Wittmark, director for La Riojana Europe. All of whom will all be present to answer any questions regarding La Riojana's wine ranges.

LA RIOJANA CELEBRATES ITS 70TH ANNIVERSARY WITH LAUNCH OF NEW WEBSITE

Seventy years on from its establishment in 1940, in June of this year La Riojana celebrated 70 years of life as a co-operative with a series of seminars and lectures and a celebratory anniversary dinner. In addition to the celebrations held in Argentina, La Riojana has also decided to commemorate this special anniversary with the official launch this week of their brand new website www.lariojanawines.com

The new site has been created first and foremost to be dynamic, informative and easy to use. Its design together with its colourful images, short videos, dedicated sections to Fairtrade, organic and sustainability is for the first time able to deliver a very clear picture of La Riojana co-operative, its products, people and surroundings.

Walter Carol, export director for La Riojana commented: "The aim of our new website is to allow the trade, press and consumers to find the information they are looking for quickly and easily, and at the same time learn something new about our company, products, latest news and awards, events and our commitment to both Fairtrade and the environment. We want to be able to communicate what sets La Riojana and its wines apart from other wineries in the world, and we feel that the new website achieves just this. What better time to launch our new website than in conjunction with our 70th anniversary."