“But where are the vineyards?” I asked the chauffeur as we were driving into the Alta Rioja district in northern Spain— which, according to many, produces the country’s finest red wines. “Here, there, everywhere,” he answered, waving about him, indicating all the little vineyards hidden among the wheat and sunflower fields. This was not the cozy landscape of Burgundy, or of the Napa Valley, where vineyards and wineries nestle close together, but one of broad farmlands stretching toward the mountain ranges in the distance. In other parts of Rioja there are, I’m told, big vineyards, but traditionally the wineries buy their grapes from smaller growers rather than growing them themselves, as they do in Bordeaux or the Rhine Valley.
The purpose of my trip was to visit three of the wineries that produce excellent wines with the title of Marqués (marquis) on the label. I was curious to know if the Marqueses of Murrieta, Riscal, and Cacerés, really existed, or if they were simply come-on names for those susceptible to titles. The Marquéses, I found, are alive and well, and indeed own the wineries that bear their names, though they do not take part in the wine-making process today, as the Riscal and Murrieta ancestors did.
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