Beronia Reserva wins best red at International Wine Challenge

Celebrations are under way at Bodegas Beronia, part of the González Byass Family of Wine, as the estate walked away with a total five trophies at the International Wine Challenge, yesterday evening in London, for its 2011 Beronia Reserva.

The Beronia Reserva 2011 fought of extremely tough competition from both its home region, Rioja, from Spain and the world to be awarded the highly coveted award Great Value Champion Red Trophy having already come out top in other categories and won Best Rioja Trophy, Best Rioja Reserva Trophy and the Best Spanish Red Wine Trophy.

The International Wine Challenge (IWC) has been established for 33 years and is widely recognised as on the  world's finest and most meticulously judged wine competition. Assessing thousands of entries from wine producing regions around the world blind each year, the Challenge boasts an impressive line-up of top international press, buyers and key influencers.

Commenting on their success, Matías Calleja, chief winemaker at Bodegas Beronia said, “This is our best result ever in any international competition. We cannot believe that we have won so many trophies in one event. I knew that the 2011 was a great wine when we released it and these results prove that all our hard work, attention to detail and efforts to make the best quality wine possible have paid off. We are delighted.”

Beronia was founded in 1973 by a group of businessmen and friends from the Basque region in the North of Spain. Their great love of food and wine lead them to create their own gastronomic society , or txoko as it is called locally. They loved wine so much that they eventually decided to produce their own and Beronia was born. Specialising only in Crianzas, Reservas and Gran Reservas, the estate is quintessential Rioja, making wines that are defined by the region and the soils in which the vines are grown. The name, Beronia, is linked to the history of the land where the winery is located and referring to a Celtic tribe call the “Berones”, who roamed around the Rioja Alta in the 3rd Century BC.

Beronia was integrated into the González Byass Family of Wine in 1982 and began to build its reputation in all the major international markets. Today Beronia is one of the most renowned Spanish wineries both at home and around the world, recognised for producing pure and traditional Rioja wines with their own personality and the distinct Beronia style.