PARIS — To wine connoisseurs, the name Rothschild is inseparable from Bordeaux. Various branches of the family own such prestigious châteaux as Lafite-Rothschild and Mouton-Rothschild and a host of lesser-known properties in the area. When the Rothschilds have branched out into other wine regions, the direction has tended to be into the New World or into Old World frontiers like Languedoc, rather than more established areas, where the presence of a Rothschild might dilute the family’s association with Bordeaux.
Until now. For the latest addition to its wine portfolio, one branch of the Rothschild family chose Rioja in Spain, one of the classic wine regions of Europe.
“You can make wine today in so many places,” said Ariane de Rothschild, who oversees the wine holdings of Edmond de Rothschild, the private bank in Geneva. “But then there is the question of what you are trying to accomplish. Rioja has this great terroir, but we felt that it was getting lost.”
The new wine, Macán, is a joint venture between Edmond de Rothschild and the most venerable wine estate in Spain, Vega Sicilia in the region of Ribera del Duero. The first vintages of Macán and Macán Clásico, a second wine made from lesser parts of the harvest, are set to be introduced this winter.
For Ms. Rothschild, there is a personal motivation behind the decision to start making a wine in Spain. She spent some of her childhood in El Salvador, where she learned Spanish. She married into the Rothschild family; her husband, Benjamin, is chairman of Edmond de Rothschild.
“I look forward to showing the world, and my family, that you can make a very good wine in Rioja,” Ms. Rothschild said in an interview in Paris. “I’ve always lived elsewhere in the world. If I had to be stuck in France I would die.”
Yes, there seems to be an element of Rothschild family rivalry. Edmond de Rothschild owns a stake in Château Lafite-Rothschild, but that property is more closely associated with another branch of the family, as is Mouton-Rothschild. Edmond de Rothschild is more closely associated with a less pedigreed Bordeaux estate, Château Clarke, which was acquired by the founder of the bank, Benjamin’s father.
The Bordeaux heritage has not been renounced. To make Macán, the Rothschilds, working with Pablo Álvarez, the director of Vega-Sicilia, have imported from France the so-called chateau concept, under which all the grapes that go into the wine are grown in proprietary vineyards.
“Some people say it’s a Bordeaux concept,” Ms. Rothschild said. “No, it’s a value concept.”
It is also a break from Rioja tradition, under which many of the best-known producers have bought their raw material from independent growers, concentrating instead on making and marketing the wine.
Macán arrives on the scene at a time when Rioja is going through a bit of an identity crisis. As in a number of Old World wine regions, especially in Italy but also in Bordeaux, the region is torn between traditionalists and modernists.
Tradition in Rioja tends to mean wines that have been aged for many years in oak barrels, where they slowly shed their fruit flavors and colors and take on complex aromas and hues. Wines from such classic producers as R. López de Heredia, Marqués de Riscal and La Rioja Alta, for example, are highly distinctive. The reds, which account for the majority of Rioja production, are among the world’s most long-lasting wines.
But subtle reds like these are out of step with recent trends in consumer tastes; many people now prefer bolder, fruitier wines. To meet that demand, some producers in the region are making more “modern” wines, colored a deep red rather than the translucent amber of some “traditional” Rioja. While the wines have drawn rave reviews from some critics, others say that Rioja is selling its soul.
