The Consejo Regulador de la Rioja has updated the regulations for the Villages category. The terminology has been modified from Vino de Municipio to Vino de Pueblo, but this change is not reflected on the front label, where the precise location is always indicated, for instance, Vino de Labastida for wines both harvested and aged in Labastida. Every one of the 144 towns across Rioja's three sub-regions can qualify for this classification.
For a Vino de Pueblo, it is still permitted to use up to 15% of the grapes from a neighboring town, which was already the case previously. However, a new regulation has been added: the designation Viñedo en followed by the town name. This is only allowed if all the grapes come from the designated town. For this, the winery no longer needs to be in the same town, a rule that many, especially smaller producers who had vineyards in various municipalities, struggled with. Until now, they could only declare wine of village quality for wine that was (85%) grown, vinified, matured, and even bottled there.
The designations of the sub-regions, Vino de Zona, and the single vineyards, Vino de Viñedo Singular, remain unchanged.
