In mid -April 1912, the London House Importer of Wines and Liquors Berry Bros & Rudd, located in front of the Palace of St. James and responsible for educating the palate of British royalty with the best wines of the European continent (the legend says that its winery connected directly to the monarchical stays), received a telegram. The power of the company was such that international news came before the writings of Fleet Street newspapers. And the situation painted very badly: among the losses there were 69 boxes of wine. The White Star shipping company sent a letter of apologies to the importer days later.
The United Kingdom, like the rest of the Nordic countries, should have a monogamous love relationship with beer. In fact, the popular cliché – as they described in a hilarious way— Always show the British with a blond and warm pint in hand. The reality is that this country, and its capital London especially, is after the United States the world market par excellence. The destination most coveted by wineries around the world, including Spanish.
“Until now, they are making some foamy, they had never had their own production. They have always come to the foreign market to buy their wine. For Rioja, as for many other regions, it was our first exit. In 2024 we sent 32 million liters to British territory,” says Iñigo Tapiator, Marketing and Communication Director of the Denomination of Origin Qualified Rioja. “If there is a single concept that a British can use to define Spanish wine is Rioja. It is the first thing that comes to mind.”
and it was clear that the great international party had to be in London. During a whole weekend, the huge industrial enclosure of Hackney Bridge, an old sweet factory in the east of the British capital that today is the heart of a neighborhood full of restaurants, bars or alternative art centers, has welcomed the Rioja Centennial Festival, with master classes, tastings, culinary exhibitions, live music and dozens of wineries and labels that have collaborated to celebrate the most known Spanish wine in the United Kingdom, next to the Bordeaux or Burgundy.
“Rioja has a very good position here. The general perception of our wine is very positive. But this has an addition: we are talking about a very mature market, and therefore less open to any innovation,” explains Sergio Leza Ruíz, head of sales of the wineries and vine Singular of the variety of Viura that dares to compete against the Chardonnays and the Sauvignon Blanc that flood the refrigerators of the British supermarkets. “I think we can aspire to compete with the main operators of the world. Three or four years ago there was a study that Rioja placed among the three best known brands of British consumers.”
. The consumption of annual liters per inhabitant is at the level of France, Germany or Spain, but the appetite for expensive, sophisticated and exclusive wines has shot in a city like London, which remains the magnet that attracts billionaires around the world.
“Rioja is one of the few wine regions of the world capable of producing virtually any type of wine that comes to mind, from whites to pink, with unique vineyards that offer from a soft garnacha to the resounding body of the Tempranillo grape,” List Ignacio López, the director of Bodegas Campo Viejo. Its brand is the success story of a Spanish wine in the United Kingdom. “Enter any convenience store of those that are open at all hours in this city, go to the wine shelf, and there will always be an old field there,” the person responsible for a rival cellar recognizes with admiration.
“Rioja is located in a wonderful area of northern Spain, which shares the influence of the Cantabrian and the Mediterranean. In front of climate change, we will still have the opportunity to produce excellent wines. I think we have not even demonstrated half of our potential,” López explains at the end of a tasting offered by several wineries in the Hackney Bridge festival.
Faced with the legion of experts, critics or consumers of high level, who know and admire most of Rioja’s great wineries, there is a British audience that is simply delivered to the wine every weekend with a crazy passion. This correspondent is still amazed, walking early on a Sunday morning through any London neighborhood and contemplating the amount of empty bottles piled up in recycling cubes. “There are many people out there that the only thing they know about wine is that it comes in three -quarter liter bottles and serves to get drunk,” says Mike Turner, director of the importer, importer director Feel Good Grapes and expert in love with Rioja. “I know that what I say sounds very bad, but what I mean is that all these people may not know if Rioja is a region or a grape, but they know the name perfectly. There are wine regions around the world that they would kill for such a powerful brand recognition,” he says.
