On the occasion of beginning last December 1st of the official period of tasting session for qualifying 2014 wine harvest, the Control Board has introduced important innovations this year in the procedures used for sensory evaluation of wines . Some developments consist mainly of the application of new information technologies and protocols established by the Control Board for the selection and training of panel tasters making the grade. As stated by the president of the Control Board, Luis Alberto Lecea, when thirty harvests are met from the implementation of a plan in Rioja wines qualifications, something which was crucial to obtain the highest category of "QUALIFIED", the Regulatory Council has gone a step further in improving the procedures used in order to continue offering consumers the maximum guarantee of rigor and efficiency in the certification process, which has been fundamental to Rioja wines have become a benchmark of quality wines. In qualification for the 2014 vintage has been introduced as a new the application of new information technologies to the tastings. As reported by José Luis Lapuente, general director general of the Regulatory Council, is designed to do a specific program that assessors used by one tablet each tasting session, which will bring undoubted advantages in improving procedures, streamline outcome real time and later statistical analysis from the large volume of information handled. With all this answer is given to one of the strategic objectives of the Council, as is obtaining qualitative information, not just quantitative, markets, since the analytical and tasting checks are performed both new wines made each harvest (over 4,000 annual samples), and samples taken in the finished product warehouse warehouses (1,400 samples) and samples collected at points of sale in major markets (1,880 samples in the last year), including wines from other regions. Standardize tasting procedures and unify the tasters criteria is another objective of the Control Board, in addition to its own technical staff, has a panel of tasters that currently owns 140 professionals with excellent reputations as stressed the director of the Body Control of the Regulatory Council, Domingo Rodrigo. The access to this panel of tasters as retention as assessed by examination with high demands and rear track of each taster. The Tasting Committees operate under the supervision of a technical from the Control Board and will soon be composed of five tasters rather than the current three, which the technical rigor of the results of the tastings will increase. Source: Rioja Wine (www.riojawine.com)