LA RIOJANA WINS GOLD AT THE ARGENTINA WINE AWARDS 2011

La Riojana, currently the world's largest producer of certified Fairtade-organic wine, is delighted with its results in this year's Argentina Wine Awards, winning a grand total of 15 medals, including one gold and three silvers for its wines produced in the La Rioja province. 

The fifth annual Argentina Wine Awards took place in Mendoza between 21st and 25th February 2011, the judges for which included 12 of the world's best sommeliers from Brazil, Canada, Sweden, Italy, USA, China, UK, France, Mexico and Argentina.

La Riojana's gold medal was awarded to Finca Federada Fairtrade Reserva Malbec 2010 (RRP £8.99 – Laithwaites Wine), a full bodied Malbec aged in oak for six months. La Riojana's three silver medals were awarded to Tilimuqui Single Vineyard Fairtrade Organic Torrontés 2010, a crisp, fresh unoaked Torrontés with a citrus flavour (RRP £6.99 – Waitrose), The Co-operative Fairtrade Torrontés -Chardonnay 2010, a superb blend with 60% Torrontés and 40% Chardonnay (RRP £4.49 The Co-operative) and Raza Argentina Gran Reserva Malbec 2008, one of the winery's icon wines from La Riojana's flagship brand Raza Argentina.

In addition to these four medals, La Riojana won a further 11 bronze medals for Ecologica Fairtrade Organic Shiraz Malbec Reserva 2010, Ecologica Fairtrade Organic Torrontés Chardonnay 2010, Tilimuqui Single Vineyard Fairtrade Organic Cabernet Sauvignon – Bonarda 2010, Solombra Fairtrade Reserva Malbec 2010, Solombra Fairtrade Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, The Co-operative Argentine Fairtrade Shiraz 2010, The Co-operative Argentine Fairtrade Bonarda Shiraz 2010, The Co-operative Argentine Organic Fairtrade Reserva Malbec 2010, Santa Florentina Torrontés 2010, Raza Argentina Reserva Chardonnay 2009 and Raza Argentina Reserva Chardonnay 2010.

Walter Carol, export director for La Riojana, commented "This is a great achievement for La Riojana and we are extremely pleased with these results. We are fully aware of the great competition amongst Argentine wines today, and therefore winning some of the top awards helps prove our ongoing commitment to quality at La Riojana and the strength of our wines."

LA RIOJANA LEADS WITH FAIRTRADE AT LIWF 2011

La Riojana, the world’s largest producer of certified Fairtrade organic wines, will be showing its full portfolio of Fairtrade certified wines, including its two most popular Fairtrade certified ranges, Ecologica and Solombra, on the Wines of Argentina stand (S30) at this year’s London International Wine Fair, which is due to take place 17th to 19th May 2011.

Ecologica, La Riojana’s Fairtrade and organic certified range will be showcased in newly re-designed packaging. The new look created for Ecologica, was launched at ProWein 2011 and includes two dual varietal blends; a Torrontés-Chardonnay and a Shiraz-Malbec . The new packaging is both attractive and sophisticated, and has successfully added a more premium feel to the range.

Solombra, La Riojana’s Fairtrade certified range launched in 2010, will include Reserva wines from the 2010 vintage, namely a Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon which are being sold through Albert Heijn in The Netherlands, together with a dual varietal Torrontés-Chardonnay which has just been added to the range.

In addition to this, La Riojana will be showcasing two of its other Fairtrade certified ranges, Fair & Square, an innovative range of Fairtrade certified wines presented in compact 1-litre Tetra prisma containers, and Viñedos de la Posada, including a Torrontés and Merlot.

In terms of conventional wines, La Riojana will show its flagship range Raza Argentina including Dolce Torrontés, a new sparkling low alcohol, sweeter style Torrontés which is enjoying huge success in the US market. The rest of the Raza range on show will also include a Torrontés and Malbec from the varietal and Reserva range, a Gran Reserva Malbec and a Sparkling Brut style Torrontés.

La Riojana’s commercial and winemaking team will be in attendance at the LIWF, including Nick Day, sales director for UK and Europe, Walter Carol, export director and Rodolfo Griguol, chief winemaker and they will be happy to answer any questions regarding La Riojana and the current wine ranges.

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.”