Marqués de Riscal Reserva bids farewell to its iconic golden mesh in its 2020 vintage.

The company has decided to remove the iconic mesh from the bottle of Marqués de Riscal Reserva to take a further step in its commitment to sustainability. The winery has taken this decision, after 150 years of use, as part of its firm commitment to caring for the environment.

Marqués de Riscal Reserva is undoubtedly the company's most international wine and in its next 2020 vintage it will go on sale without the mesh and with a renewed label. With this measure, the auxiliary materials of the bottle are significantly reduced, thus reducing the waste generated, estimated at approximately 14,000 kilos of brass.

The elimination of the mesh is a major step that brings the company closer to meeting its environmental objectives. For Marqués de Riscal, the commitment to sustainability and the environment is fundamental. All its vineyards in Rueda have been certified organic since 2018 and in Rioja Alavesa it is the winery with the largest number of hectares under organic cultivation. Marqués de Riscal is also committed to self-consumption and has several photovoltaic panel installations in its Rioja winery, promoting a cleaner energy system.

150 years of the mesh

After almost 150 years of use, this ornamental element has become an icon all over the world.

Marqués de Riscal started to use the mesh since its appearance on the market in the 19th century, being the first Spanish winery to do so. It took many years before it became popular as a symbol of wine for cellaring in Rioja, later extending to other Spanish wine regions for high-end wines.

Its most successful period was the happy twenties when the meshes became popular in the most successful hotels in Madrid, so fashionable at the time. Most of the wineries sent the wine in barrels to be sold in bulk or it was bottled at destination by the owners of the incipient wine bureaus and restaurants who were in charge of filling the bottles.

This was a risk factor because, due to the success of sales, there was a tendency to use wines from other sources to fill the bottles. The more prestigious hotels and businesses did not resort to this type of practice. The wineries, being aware of this roguery, used the sealed nets to guarantee authenticity and not to be refilled. Marqués de Riscal always sent the wine bottled with the net from the winery.

The custom almost disappeared with the shortage of materials as a consequence of World War II, although Marqués de Riscal never stopped using it.