The History of Rioja Wine

"On the one hand, Mees’s new publication is a weaving together of different research strands, a synthesis of his preoccupation with the history of wine-making in the Rioja region. On the other hand, this book is an attempt to achieve something new, something that goes beyond his past research. The chosen secondary title of the book, "Tradition and Innovation", gives a hint at the hinge on which the author’s history of Rioja and its wines hangs; it is the oscillation between two poles – one conservative in nature, the other one exploring the new – that explains much of the region’s wine-producing story […] Thanks to Ludger Mees’s excellent guidance and this gem of a book we now know more about the history behind Rioja wines, how they came into being and finally reached our palates."

-Andreas Hess, excerpt from book review, 'The Grapes of Mirth' in Dublin Review Books.

“Ludger Mees […] has written a fascinating and multifaceted account of the evolution of Rioja and its wine. Drawing on a wide range of sources (and quoting extensively from key documents that are otherwise hard to access), he shows how a wine once so little valued that it was used make plaster was developed into Wine Spectator’s 2013 “best wine in the world.” The key word here is “developed,” for this was no accident. Indeed, Mees is careful to set his story into the context of the great social and economic changes of the nineteenth century. [The text is a] deeply researched, carefully considered, and illuminating account of wine treated not just as an alcoholic beverage but as a social and economic lens of great value. Little of scholarly value has been written in Spanish or English about the history of Riojan wine, and this book fills a significant gap.”

-Graham Harding, excerpt from book review, 'The Social History of Alcohol and Drugs' V37N2.

“Mees has written an excellent history of Rioja wine before the Civil War, making it an essential starting point for historians who want to understand the development of one of Spain’s leading wine producing regions. Indirectly, he has also shown why small growers across Spain could not become fine wine producers in this period.”

-James Simpson, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.