2016 Annual Report Control Board of the Rioja Designation of Origin Summary
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2016 ANNUAL REPORT CONTROL BOARD OF THE RIOJA DESIGNATION OF ORIGIN SUMMARY Presentation....................................................................................................... 3 The Control Board, an organisation at the service of the Wine Region:.................... 4 Control Board composition and functions.......................................................... 5 - Plenary and commitees ..................................................................................6 - Organisational chart .................................................................................... 10 - Plenary decisions ........................................................................................ 14 The Board´s financial resources .................................................................. 22 Activity Reports by department: - Administrative services................................................................................ 26 - Legal department ........................................................................................ 27 - Communication and Promotion .....................................................................30 Controlling Body: .................................................................................... 54 - Inspection activities..................................................................................... 56 - I.T. section .............................................................................................. 60 Sales balance: - Rioja sales value grows in 2016 and consolidates last year’s record figures ..............................................................................................63 - Nielsen and OeMv polls: Rioja’s performance in Spanish and foreign markets......................................................................................64 2016 vintage rated Very Good ..........................................................................66 Statistics. Rioja in figures: - Development of vitiviniculture in the D.O.Ca. Rioja ...................................... 68 - Production and vinification............................................................................ 70 - Viticulture in figures ..................................................................................... 72 - Winery statistics ......................................................................................... 76 - Sales statistics............................................................................................ 78 PUBLISHED BY: CONTROL BOARD OF THE RIOJA DESIGNATION OF ORIGIN Edited by: Javier Pascual Corral Translated by: TRINOR Printed by: Gráficas Quintana, S.L. Legal Registry No: LR-160-1993 2 PRESENTATION performed better than the export market. Particularly striking is the improvement in the positioning of Rioja in terms of value, a target we had set ourselves as a priority that is getting a favourable response from consumers. Another important development has been the great drive given to the marketing of white wines, a good example of the innovative capacity of Rioja which, as some critics say, is the biggest revolution on the Spanish winemaking scene in recent years. We would also point out the strengthening of the specialisation of Rioja in oak-aged wines, out and out leaders in this segment on the José María Daroca Rubio, President of the Control Board international level. The 2016 harvest provided very satisfactory In the same way that I took advantage of this opportunity results, from both the quantitative and qualitative points of last year to thank the wine sector for electing me, this time I do view. It was an exceptional harvest that almost reached the so to say goodbye, as my mandate is coming to an end soon. maximum grade, in which the Control Board has applied It has been a great honour for me to chair an institution such new technologies to intensify and improve control systems to as the Control Board, whose prestige and international profile guarantee quality, both in terms of production (yield control) has been seen to be much greater than we think and perceive and in the harvest and wine certification process. from the inside. Therefore, in the short two-year period of Among the major milestones of the wide-ranging my mandate I have not only maintained, but increased, the promotional activity carried out by the Control Board in 10 enthusiasm with which I took over a post that involves such a countries in 2016, with an investment of over 10 million great responsibility for our region. Looking back, I can only euros, we would highlight initiatives such as the award of the feel satisfaction at the achievements and the positive evolution Prestigio Rioja Prize to Eva Longoria, the world-famous actress of our Wine Region. A decisive factor in this has been “the who has given us great media exposure, the start-up of a united action of all the stakeholders in the sector” that I put project to train official Rioja Wine Educators (people who help forward as a priority when I started my term. We have all us to disseminate knowledge of our wines) worldwide and the worked in the same direction with the aim of strengthening launch of the first official app for mobile phones and tablets, and improving a designation model that has helped to bring which gives consumers comprehensive information on wineries, about sustained development for our region, with a growing wines and wine tourism in our Wine Region. production and marketing structure that few areas in the world Within the process of adaptation to the new legal have experienced in the last three decades. With the aim of framework represented by the 2015 Act on Designations of ensuring the continuity of this sustainable development model, Origin, I have great faith in the continuity of a system of self- we have taken the decision to limit increases in vineyard regulation and an organisational model that the consumer surface area in the light of the major threat represented to trusts, one that innovates constantly and offers profitability to the D.O.Ca. Rioja by the new European system of authorised grape growers and wineries, creating wealth for the whole plantings. region in the process. The evolution of Rioja in 2016 can be considered very positive. For the second consecutive year, the Spanish market (which represents two-thirds of total sales of Rioja) has 3 THE CONTROL BOARD AN ORGANISATION AT THE SERVICE OF THE WINE REGION History years later, although its activities were quite limited until the mid 1950s. Rioja wines are covered by the oldest Designation of Origin The enactment of Law 25/70 of 2 December 1970, in Spain. The modern Rioja was born in the late 19th century, which approved the Statute on Vines, Wines and Alcohols, establishing a clear link between the name of a product and and the subsequent creation of a new Control Board marked the place where it was made. This sparked growing concerns the beginning of a process to improve control systems which among Rioja’s grape growers and winemakers who sought eventually stood among the most rigorous and effective in the to firmly guarantee the quality and authenticity of the wines world. produced in the region while protecting its identity against The renewal of the Control Board in May 1982 —in “usurpers and counterfeiters.” accordance with the regulations set out in Decree 2004/79, These concerns where finally addressed with the official adjusted to the new democratic principles proclaimed by recognition of the Rioja Designation of Origin on 6 June the Constitution— was the beginning a new stage which 1925, authorising the use of the word ‘RIOJA’ as a collective saw the gradual introduction of a perfectly articulated plan brand to be put on the labels, as well as a special bottle of both qualitative and quantitative controls applicable to seal. The legal basis for this measure had its precedent in the both production and sales: vineyard and winery registers, 1902 Industrial Property Act, which mentioned “indications of control of growing practices, maximum production yields, an provenance” in Title IX. approval process for new wines, monitoring of ageing times The Royal Decree of 22 October 1926 created the and vintages, etc. first supervisory body of the Rioja Designation of Origin, a At the same time, unlike previous stages, the Control Control Board whose mandate was to demarcate the Rioja Board increased its budget allocation, infrastructure and production area, control the issue of guarantee seals and staff to meet the demands posed by the strict fulfilment of its recommend legal measures to be taken against “usurpers purpose, namely defending the designation, controlling and and counterfeiters of the Rioja brand.” The regulations were fostering quality and providing generic promotion of Rioja. All approved in February 1928. this was funded with the contributions of grape growers and The enactment of the Wine Statute on 8 September 1932 wine producers whose representatives have prompted self- provided a new legal framework for the development of controlling regulations that are considerably stricter than those designations of origin, most of which were already defined of the European Union. and included in this text. A year later, a Ministerial Order The culmination of this process came in April 1991 authorised the creation of the second Rioja Control Board with with the awarding of the ‘Calificada’ attribute to the a composition, presidency, functions, etc. in accordance with Rioja Designation of Origin and