-joS Journal of Agriculture. [lo Dec, 1908. 



similar tvpe do not seem to be procurable elsewhere in the country and 

 the scarcity of Rioja -wines is much complained of and acts as a power- 

 ful stimulus to reconstitution. Though very agreeable table wines they 

 did not strike me as being so similar to the wines of Bordeaux as I Avas 

 frequently told; they are shorter lived wines, coming to maturity earlier 

 and not lasting so long as French clarets. Thev remind one a good deal of 

 our Australian clarets though they are rather lighter, their alcohol strength 

 seldom exceeding 20 per cent, of prof)f spirit. 



The soils are very suitable for viticulture and appear to give rather 

 less trouble as regards excess of lime than those of Xavarra for which 

 reason no doubt the Riparia Rupestris hybrids are more popular than 

 in that province — 3309 is the one usually preferred. In the more limey 

 soils the stocks most frequently met with are the Berlandieri h\brids 

 420 A and B, 157-11, 34 E and the Franco-Vinifera hybrids 1202, A.R.G. 

 I, A.R.G. 9 and 41 B. The stocks used are in fact much the same as 

 those employed in Xavarra and as regards reconstitution generally there 

 does not appear to be very much difference between the two provinces. 

 Subsoiling is carried out to a depth of 2 feet as a rule and, as in 

 Navarra, field grafting is much less (popular than in Southern Spain, no 

 doubt owing to frequent failure of the graft through cold weather in 

 spring. 



It is the quality of the wine and the way it is made which renders 

 La Rioja chiefly interesting and for this reason the varieties used as scions 

 deserve mention rather than the stocks. Such .sorts as Garnacho, Mazuelo 

 and Monastrel are .so widely known under the corresponding French 

 names of Grenache, Carignane and Morastel as to render further de- 

 scription unnecessary, but in La Rioja one finds several varieties, little 

 known out of Spain, which appear to contribute to the quality of the 

 wine of the region and which therefore merit brief reference. These are 

 the red varieties Tempranillo, Graciano and Miguel de Arco and among 

 white sorts Malvasia, Viura, Calagraiio, Turruntes and Maturana as well 

 as a variety of Muscat known as Moscatel de la Tierra, a small round 

 berried kind which yields an excellent Muscat wine known as " Supurado " 

 the best of which comes from the village of Labastida in La Rioja 

 Alavesa. In addition to these the Bordeaux varieties, Cabernet 

 Sauvignon, Merlct and Malbeck, have been introduced from France and 

 are to be found cultivated on a fairlv large scale in conjunction with the 

 old kinds of the district in several of the best vineyards. Tempranillo 

 is, as its name indicates, an earlv ripening variety whch plays a very 

 considerable part in the region, entering in the proportion of often as 

 much as 50 per cent, into the composition of the Rioja " Claretes." It 

 is a vigorous growing varietv of spreading habit and a fairly heavy 

 bearer. Graciano is a late varietv which appears to be indigenous to 

 the district. It is usuallv looked upon as the qualitv element in the best 

 red wines of the region. 



These varieties are certainly worthy of a trial in Victoria for they 

 produce really excellent wines. The best Bordeaux " cepages " have 

 not displaced them in the Rioja vineyards where both have been culti- 

 vated for many years side bv side. When one remembers the restricted 

 area which in Europe often proves most suitable for one particular kind 

 of vine it is highly probable that we will in some localities, at any rate, 

 find some variety, or varieties, more profitable to cultivate than our 

 Shiraz which at jjresent appears to be the general favorite red grape 



