arrives the separation in the DOCa Rioja. On this occasion, it was the Basque Government that, with the rejection of the appeal presented by the DOCa Rioja on the processing of this new Basque Denomination of Origin activates the request again. The processing of the new Protected Designation of Origin "Arabako Mahastiak-Alava Vineyards”. As we already anticipated in Gastronomic Information a year ago. In this way, the procedure continues on its way and is sent to the Department of agriculture. Once it reaches the Ministry, it can only process it in Brussels to continue with the approval of the European Union.
The separation of most of the wineries in Álava it was reactivated last March. It was when the Rioja Alavesa Winery Association (ABRA) submitted the application for this new Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). The request was made to the Basque Government to register in Europe a new appellation of origin with the name “Arabako Mahastiak-Viñedos de Álava”.
Historical claim for the separation of DOCa Rioja
The Rioja Alavesa winemakers' association already in 2016 claimed a denomination of origin of its own for its area. At that time a negotiation was opened with the DOCa Rioja with the aim of finding a solution so that Basque wine could be differentiated in the labeling.
After a period of negotiation, the Association of Winemakers of La Rioja Alavesa understands that a satisfactory agreement cannot be reached and restarts the request.
And now that..
At this point, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food must complete the petition process and send it to Brussels. Once the DOCa Rioja has been presented, it intends to denounce and proceed to the judicial process of said PDO. All to stop its approval until there is a final sentence. To this end, Rioja will base its defense, as indicated by DOCa Rioja itself, on: “defending Rioja's goodwill and the interests of all its registrants. Also to avoid confusion among consumers ”. All of this can be a very complicated legal matter and take several years in court.
In the meantime, the entry of the petition will be registered in Brussels. When this happens, the Basque Government will foreseeably grant the PDO in the form of 'Temporary National Protection'. This means that in this period, wineries that benefit from the new Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) would be allowed to market wine with this distinction but only in Spanish territory. Get ready for the separation in the DOCa Rioja.
