The Marques de Riscal winery was founded in 1858 by Camil Hurtado de Amézaga, Marques de Riscal. This diplomat, journalist and free thinker, who owned vineyards and a bodega on the Torrea estate in the Elciego area, lived in the Medoc for more than 20 years and became very fond of the local wines. Because of his contacts from Bordeaux, the mayors of the Alava region asked him to engage a winemaker whose experience and knowledge of traditional methods would establish the production of wines using Medoc technologies in the Rioja region.
The Marques de Riscal had "9,000 young vines with full guarantee" of only the best quality Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec and Pinot Noir sent from France, with the aim of experimenting with these varieties in the vineyards of Rioja, where until now only the local Tempranillo and Graciano varieties reigned supreme .The wines obtained were fuller, finer and, thanks to aging in Bordeaux oak barrels, had a high potential for preservation.In 1860 he built new cellars with huge galleries for archiving the wines.
The new cellar was equipped with then state-of-the-art production equipment and even the first workshop for the production of Bordeaux-type casks in Rioja. Following traditional French production methods, the bodega began bottling wines in 1862, which until then had matured in oak barrels. Within just 5 years, all efforts were rewarded and his wines won awards for their high quality at all the leading exhibitions of the time; recognition culminated in 1895 with the awarding of the Diploma d'Honneur at the XIII. Exhibition? in Bordeaux - the highest distinction a wine can achieve.
Bodega Riscal was the very first non-French producer to be honored with this prestigious award, and to this day proudly displays the award on its wine labels.