As modern Spanish wine continues to surprise us with its quality and innovation, it’s easy to forget that its success was built on Rioja. Among my earliest love affairs with wine, I remember finding the Paternina Banda Azul at £2.99 a bottle in the Potters Bar Victoria Wine utterly irresistible. So much so that I used to drink good old Blue Stripe by the shedload thanks to Vicky Wine’s 10% case discount. What was so compelling was its smoothness of texture, its refreshing, medium-bodied fruitiness hinting at strawberry and cherry and always that seductive coating of vanilla and coconut derived from its stay in oak barrels; a legacy of the era when consumers looked to Rioja to fill the void left by the phylloxera louse that sucked Bordeaux vineyards dry in the 19th century. Those, as they say, were los días.

Maybe I lost a little of my enthusiasm for Rioja when Australian shiraz, Chilean merlot and Argentinian malbec took over as good value alternatives to the European classics. But competition from the New World and from within Spain itself has given this beautiful region on the southern side of the lofty Sierra Cantabria cause for reinvention. On its own, or in blends with the local graciano, garnacha and mazuelo grapes, the early-ripening tempranillo grape is the mainstay of the region’s reds, producing a broad palette of styles in which both youthful fruit and venerable maturity can be equally delicious. Add in a cast of mind that varies from the traditional in the wines of Tondonia, La Rioja Alta and Murrieta to the ultra-modern likes of Roda, Artadi and Allende, and today’s Rioja is holding its head high.

As with Bordeaux, there’s a wide range in value and it’s still possible to find quality at under a tenner in wines like Barón de Ley (see below), Sainsbury's 2005 Taste the Difference Rioja Reserva, £8.99, a wine with that typical veneer of vanilla and mature fruit, or the 2007 Rioja Perez Burton, £9.99, Marks & Spencer, the little master Telmo Rodriguez’s glossy, strawberry and vanilla tempranillo with its soft leathery plushness of texture. For the extra shekel or two, the 2005 Baigorri Crianza, £10.34, bottle / case, M & S Direct, is a seductive blend of intense strawberry fruit flavours that's youthfully sinewy in the modern vein. CVNE is another bodega on cracking form; try its 2006 CVNE Rioja Reserva, £11.15, Waitrose, a polished blend of succulent red cherry fruitiness lightly dusted with vanilla.

At recent tastings, I was as impressed by the classy black cherry and toasty oak veneer of the superb 2004 Ontañon Reserva, £19.95, Jeroboams shops, as the bright freshness and seductively spicy qualities of the classic 2005 Contino Rioja, £22.00, Marks & Spencer. These styles strike me as halfway between the new and the old Spain. In the former camp, for purity of fruit without the gameyness, a wine like Roda’s 2006 Rioja Reserva, £24.99, Sainsbury’, displays its pristine cherry fruit spiciness and concentration. If on the other hand you’re old school and love those mature, gamey qualities of traditional Rioja at its best, I doubt that you’ll be disappointed with the fabulous 1999 Rioja Gran Reserva Imperial from CVNE, £25, buy 2 = £20. Majestic, a comforting leather sofa to sink into for its mellow-textured cocoon of spicy dark berry fruits richness. For my review of white, rosé and red Rioja, check out www.anthonyrosewine.com on Monday.

Something for the Weekend 2 April 2011

Under £6

2006 Barón de Ley Club Privado Rioja 2006

From the reliable Barón de Ley, there’s a veneer of vanilla and coconut oak supporting a smooth red berry fruit character to which a twist of tannins add a refreshing lift. £5.99, down from £8.29 at Waitrose.

Under a Tenner

2009 Paul Mas Marsanne

Familiar? Tesco first stocked it, and now Asda has taken over the baton of this deliciously characterful dry southern French white whose floral aromas and peachy fruit are underscored by the zip and zing of a spritzy, incisive freshness. Asda. £7.74.

Splash Out

2009 L’Empreinte de Saint-Mont

Based on local South-West French grapes, this mouthwatering dry white from the Plaimont Co-op combines a richness of texture and the subtlest of spicy oak touches with a lime and grapefruit-zesty freshness and tang. £12.99, Adnams Cellar & Kitchen shops (01502727200).