For many people a good red Spanish wine and a Rioja are almost synonymous, and given the ubiquity of the Rioja wines it's understandable. The area called the Rioja is south of Bilbao and Pamplona, and apart from a small area on the Costa Brava, it's the most northerly of the Spanish wine-making regions. It has a very long history of wine production, pre-dating even the Roman occupation of Spain. It hasn't been continuous; during the Moorish occupation of Spain no wine was produced in accordance with the Koranic ban on wine, but the area was one of the first to be re-captured by the Christians and production began anew.

The Rioja is a hilly region, extending for about 100 kilometres on either side of the River Ebro, with little villages dotting the hill-tops, where traditionally the vineyards were scattered in and amongst the other crops such as peppers, wheat and potatoes. Officially it's divided into three areas of production, the Rioja Alta and the Rioja Alavesa to the west - on the north and south of the Ebro respectively - and the Rioja Baja to east. The best wines come from the first two.

The Spanish Ministry of Agriculture lists fourteen grape varieties that are used in the making of Rioja wines, although the vast majority of good wines use only six. The local grape variety, the Tempranillo, is the mainstay of production. It produces wines of good balance and alcoholic strength but it is susceptible to mould and used alone can make a flat wine. Most of the time it's blended with the Garnacho, the Graciano and the Mazuelo.

In the mid-nineteenth century the Marques de Riscal brought in a French vigneron to remodel his bodegas along Bordeaux lines, and since then the habit has been to age the wines in oak barrels. This is still one of the main distinctions between wines of the Rioja; 'crianza' - aged in oak, and 'sin crianza' - aged in the bottle with no oaking. The other major distinction is the word 'Reserva', which in the Rioja means that it has been aged longer in the bodega before bottling. A 'reserva' can be aged for six years and a 'Gran Reserva' for eight and more.

The fine Riojas of the Alta and Alavesa areas have their own characteristics; the wines of the former are more assertive and age better, while the latter, with a higher percentage of Tempranillo, tend to be fruitier and softer. Less well-known are the white wines of the Rioja, good examples being the Marques de Caceres, Marques de Riscal and the Marques de Murrieta, which live up to their aristocratic names.

Wine of the Week

Sierra Cantabria 1997 Crianza

A good example of an oaked Rioja. It has a fine structure and a good balance of fruit and tannins, the oaking providing the tannic bite. It has a bouquet of red fruit with a hint of liquorice. The same Sierra Cantabria make an unoaked version, of the 2000 vintage, costing around £4 less than the Crianza.

Available O'Brien's off-licenses. RRP £10.75.