Why it matters
The producer
La Riojana farms roughly 1,150 kilometres northwest of Buenos Aires in the Famatina Valley, a high-altitude corridor in La Rioja province that most wine buyers walk past on their way to Mendoza Malbec. The cooperative was founded in 1940, draws grapes from 500 member families across 4,125 hectares, and operates eight bodegas with its primary winery in Chilecito. Seven winemakers work under Dr. Rodolfo Griguol.
The wine-specific claim is unusually concrete: La Riojana is Argentina's largest producer of Torrontés, the country's signature white grape, and the largest certified Fairtrade wine producer in the world. Both facts matter independently. The Torrontés position is about place and variety, the altitude and diurnal swing of the Famatina Valley creating the conditions Torrontés needs to be aromatic without going flat. The Fairtrade position is about scale and commitment: Argentina's first certified winery in 2006, now supplying the majority of Fairtrade wine sold in Sweden.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
The Famatina Valley runs along the eastern slopes of the Andes in La Rioja province. Chilecito, where La Riojana's main bodega sits, is a small city in the valley floor. Vineyard parcels climb from 900 to 1,310 metres above sea level depending on the brand and blend.
Altitude does two things here. It extends the growing season, letting grapes accumulate aromatic compounds over a longer hang time. It also drives a sharp diurnal temperature swing: daytime highs around 35°C drop to roughly 17°C overnight. That gap is what keeps acidity intact in varieties that would lose it in warmer settings. For Torrontés, with its naturally high aromatic charge, the cool nights preserve lift and floral definition without pushing the grape toward flat or alcoholic territory. The sandy, limestone-rich soils drain well and reflect heat, adding to the valley's capacity to ripen grapes fully while keeping the harvest window open.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
Grapes are harvested by hand in the early morning, when temperatures are low enough to preserve aromatic volatiles before they dissipate in the valley heat. Morning harvest is a deliberate choice across the Ecologica and Raza ranges, where the target is floral lift and fresh acidity rather than extracted weight.
Fermentation takes place across eight bodegas. The primary facility in Chilecito handles the majority of the cooperative's volume. For the Fair & Square Smart Red, Syrah spends three months in a combination of French and American oak before bottling. The oak contact adds vanilla and spice to the grape's natural blackberry and violet character without dominating the fruit. The white-wine ranges see no oak, relying on altitude-preserved acidity and aromatic variety expression as their primary winemaking currency.
Wines to know
The range in view
The range is organised by brand rather than appellation tier. Each brand carries a distinct positioning, and the grape blends shift accordingly.
Ecologica Familias Torrontés Chardonnay blends 60% Torrontés with 40% Chardonnay from parcels at 1,020 to 1,310 metres. Dry and floral, with elderflower, pear, and citrus. The Chardonnay adds weight to Torrontés's aromatic lift, producing a white with more mid-palate presence than a single-variety Torrontés but the same freshness driven by altitude and morning harvest. Sandy, limestone-rich soils. Winemaker: Dr. Rodolfo Griguol.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Ecologica Familias Torrontés Chardonnay is the right first bottle. It is dry, floral, and made from grapes grown at between 1,020 and 1,310 metres in the Famatina Valley, harvested by hand in the morning, on sandy, limestone-rich soils. The 60% Torrontés brings white flower and pear; the 40% Chardonnay adds enough mid-palate to give the wine presence without obscuring the altitude-driven freshness. Winemaker Dr. Rodolfo Griguol. Organic certified. It is a white wine that explains the Famatina Valley in a single glass: aromatic, dry, fresh, and unlike anything from Mendoza.