C20: from La Rioja , the area where it is produced
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He even offered examples from his own wife, including that Rioja smells like a pirate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026
Though a fork and knife make one feel civilized while digging into the roast, this ruby glass of Rioja Alta doesn’t hurt.
From Salon ● Nov. 8, 2025
Last month, Delta Air Lines announced that 17 new wines, curated with master sommelier Andrea Robinson and including a Châteauneuf-du-Pape and a Rioja Gran Reserva, would be available on a rotating basis in all cabins.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 23, 2023
The seven registered voters of Villaroya, a small village in the La Rioja province, beat their own previous record of 32 seconds.
From BBC ● May 28, 2023
There are lots of nights out in Berlin when, emboldened by a good-value Rioja, I forget my physical predicament and allow myself to hope.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Opponents had a better chance of being served a glass of rioja during a hydration break than finding the back of the Spanish net.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Some governments, particularly in Europe, designated appellations—strictly circumscribed regions with rules on how and where a varietal such as burgundy, rioja or barolo was legally allowed to grow and be produced.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 21, 2023
Other included words like chorizo, rioja, poke, croissant, gnocchi, pierogi and pae de quiero most definitely make sense, though.
From Salon ● Dec. 5, 2022
If he were a wine, he’d be a fine grand reserve rioja.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 8, 2019
We had roast young suckling pig and drank rioja alta.
From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
