The History of Rioja Wine Tradition and Invention

The History of Rioja Wine offers an informative, chronological and in-depth account of Rioja wine from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. This book illuminates the fascinating and largely unknown success story of Rioja wine. Drawing on illustrative sources, the volume traces the economic, social, cultural and political evolution of Rioja wine from the 1850s to thepresent day,concluding with a reflection on the lesson its appealing success story offers to any lover of history and wine. The book is adorned with historical photographs throughout, the majority previously unpublished. An ideal companion both forstudents interested in Spanish history and wine enthusiasts more generally, this volume offers readers the opportunity to uncork the secrets of Rioja’s wine.

1. An Intruder at the Royal Table 2. Everything Started With a Crisis 3. Taste and Status: The Invention of the “Gourmet” in Early Bourgeois Society 4. A Voice in the Wilderness 5. The Médoc Connection: Transnational Knowledge Transfer or Industrial Espionage? 6. Conquering the Queen’s Palate 7. Thwarted: Too Modern for the Time 8. Quantity Beats Quality: TheChallenge of the Phylloxera Plague 9. The Comeback: Shape and Consolidation of a Brand 10. New Wine, New Conflicts: Industrial Wineries, Small Winegrowers and the State 11. The Globalization Trap: Challenges and Opportunities for Rioja Wine in the Twenty-First Century

Ludger Mees completed his PhD in History at the University of Bielefeld, Germany, and was Assistant Professor at the same institution before taking up a lectureship at the University of the Basque Country in 1991. Since 2004 he has been full Professor of Contemporary History at the University of the Basque Country, and between 2004 and 2009 he was also Vice-Chancellor. He is author, co-author or editor of 17 books and about 120 articles and book chapters in the fields of nationalism, social movements, historiography and agrarian history. His recent publications include Una Historia Social del Vino: Rioja, Navarra, Cataluña 1860–1940 and The Basque Contention: Ethnicity, Politics, Violence.