Rioja - that Spanish wine

It seemed the wine of choice last week at Pix. It so often is. I thought I'd look in to further, so here's some background:

Rioja is a wine named after La Rioja in Spain - in the north, south-west of Bilbao, San Sebastian, Pamplona. Rioja is made from grapes grown mainly in the Autonomous Community of La Rioja. The grapes produced are Tempranillo, Granacha (or Grenache), Granciano and Mazuelo (or Garignan).

The three principal regions of La Rioja are Rioja Alavesa, Rioja Alta and Rioja Baja with each area producing its own unique expression of Rioja wine.

A distinct characteristic of Rioja wine is the effect of oak aging. It’s also something that affects it’s classification. Rioja red wines are classified into four categories.

1. Simply labeled "Rioja," is the youngest, spending less than a year in an oak aging barrel.
2. A "crianza" is wine aged for at least two years, at least one of which was in oak.
3. "Rioja Reserva" is aged for at least three years, of which at least one year is in oak.
4. "Rioja Gran Reserva" wines have been aged at least two years in oak and three years in bottle.

Is it the quintessential Spainish wine?