CO-OP DIRECTOR HAZEL BLEARS VISITS LA RIOJANA

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On Monday 21st October 2019, La Riojana was delighted to receive the prestigious visit of Co-op director and former Member of Parliament, Hazel Blears. 

During her visit, Hazel was taken to the rural village of Tilimuqui, where she was able to see firsthand the impact of Fairtrade and how Fairtrade funded projects are improving day to day living conditions for the villagers by way of better water, education and healthcare and in doing so, creating a better future for the next generation.

Accompanied by La Riojana’s export director, Walter Carol, the day started with a visit to the Colegio Nacional Agrotecnico, the Fairtrade funded secondary school in Tilimuqui, which first opened in 2010 with a total of 33 pupils and has now over 520 pupils. 

Whilst visiting the school, Hazel met with the headteacher Luisa Dallaglio and the English teacher Cecilia Gonzalez, who is responsible for the current Pen Pal project initiated by the Co-op and La Riojana to link up students in Tilimuqui with similar aged pupils at a Co-op Academy school in Manchester. Hazel also spent a lot of her visit with the students themselves, many of whom were keen to show what they have learnt about Fairtrade and to introduce Hazel to the Argentine national drink, mate tea.   

After visiting the school, Hazel was invited into the homes of two Tilimuqui residents Carmen Castro and Cristina Narvaez. Through chatting with Carmen and Cristina, she was able to learn more about life for the people living in Tilimuqui before and after the projects and how they have changed people’s lives in the village. 

This was followed by a visit to the village water facility, La Riojana’s first Fairtrade funded project, which since its inauguration in 2009 has been responsible for providing the community with a reliable drinking water supply. This project holds particular significance for both La Riojana and the Co-op as it is where their Fairtrade journey started over a decade ago, following the Co-op’s first visit to Tilimuqui and seeing the need for change. 

After the visiting the water facility, Hazel continued her day on to La Riojana’s latest Fairtrade project, the construction of the new health centre situated on the outskirts of Tilimuqui village. A project which once completed is expected to provide medical care to over 10,000 people living locally. Hazel was given a full guided tour of the building site and shown the impressive progress since the laying of the first foundations almost a year ago, in November 2018.   

In addition to visiting these Fairtrade funded projects, Hazel met with Mario Gonzalez, La Riojana’s President and was given a tour of the La Riojana’s biodynamic and organic vineyards, which concluded with a wine tasting conducted by La Riojana’s chief winemaker Rodolfo Griguol back at the main winery. 

The timing of Hazel’s visit to La Riojana could not have happened at a better time, not only coinciding with the 25th anniversary since the first FAIRTRADE Mark certified products were launched in the UK, but also commemorating the 20-year special relationship that has been established between The Co-op, UK with La Riojana co-operative.

DOUBLE GOLD FOR LA RIOJANA AT ARGENTINE BONARDA COMPETITION 2019

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La Riojana was delighted to win a grand total of five gold medals, including one of the competition’s top two medals, Double Gold, at the recent 6th Argentine Bonarda Competition held in Mendoza, Argentina on Saturday 30th August 2019. 

The top scoring wine for La Riojana was Raza Argentina Bonarda Reserve 2018, which was awarded a Double Gold medal and an impressive 93 points. This was followed by four wines Solombra Bonarda Organico 2018; 75 Vendimias – 500 Familias Bonarda; Santa Florentina Reserva Bonarda 2018 and Raza Argentina Cosecha Seleccionada Bonarda 2018, all of which were awarded Gold medals. In addition to this, La Riojana’s Tilimuqui Fairtrade Organic Bonarda 2018 won a Bronze medal. 

Roberto Mantovani, General Manager for La Riojana, commented “We are absolutely delighted with these results, particularly as for the past couple of years we have been getting behind this varietal, knowing that it can make great quality wines.”


LA RIOJANA WINS IWC FAIRTRADE AWARD FOR THE CO-OP FAIRTRADE MALBEC

La Riojana wins IWC Fairtrade Award for the Co-op Fairtrade Malbec

We are delighted to announce that we have won this year’s IWC Fairtrade Award. This goes to the top performing Fairtrade wine from the 2019 IWC competition which this year was the Silver medal winning Co-op Fairtrade Organic Malbec 2017, part of the award-winning range of own-brand wines produced by La Riojana for the Co-op, described by the competition as having "spicy, rich blackberry fruits, fine grain tannins, balanced, inky with integrated oak. Ripe and rich".

This highly-coveted Fairtrade Award was announced as one of the IWC’s Planet Earth Awards on 9th July 2019 at the annual International Wine Challenge awards dinner held in London. 

The International Wine Challenge (IWC), which is now in its 36th year, is one of the world’s finest and most meticulously judged wine competitions, where every wine is assessed blind and is judged for its faithfulness to style, region and vintage. Wine entries came from over 40 countries and were judged by a panel of 400 international wine experts from 38 countries. 

La Riojana has been producing Fairtrade wines for The Co-op since 2006 and during this time working together, not only has the partnership produced award-winning wines but the sales of these wines have resulted in highly successful Fairtrade-funded projects, including a new village drinking water facility, new secondary school and soon to be new health centre, all of which are having an incredible impact on La Riojana’s local communities. 

Nick Day, Sales Director for La Riojana, comments: “It means a lot to La Riojana to have received this award from such an influential competition and it seems a fitting tribute to a one of our most popular wines.”



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