the local wine and the reputation of the region became widespread, not many samples of the wines left the area. Following the Reconquista, Rioja wine merchants began to look for outside markets for their wine. Looking north, some bodegas brought their wines to the trading ports of Bilbao and Santander where it became available to Dutch and English wine merchants. This developing trade with its Basque Country neighbors served as an impetus for the bodegas to expand their wine production. As the region's reputation grew, the local authorities tried to implement safeguards to protect the quality and reputation of the wine. In 1560 the use of grapes from outside the Rioja region was prohibited and wine exported from the region had to transported in bota bags, branded with a seal to guarantee the authenticity of their contents. Rebirth during the 18th and 19th centuries In the 1780s, Don Manuel Quintano of nearby Burgos traveled to Bordeaux to learn their winemaking techniques. On his return, he introduced the use of Oak aging barrels to the Rioja bodegas, which dramatically improved the longevity of Rioja wines. This opened up their export potential, and markets soon developed in places as far-flung as Cuba and Mexico. Despite this success, the regional authorities dictated that the all Rioja wines, whether destined for foreign or domestic consumption, must be the same price, regardless of the added expense incurred by oak aging. This significant economic disadvantage caused the use of oak to fall out of favor for almost a century. The Duke de la Victoria owned a bodega in Logroño and spent considerable time in London during a period of exile following the defeat of the Carlists. It was there that he and an aide, Colonel Luciano Murrieta, discussed ways in which to modernize the Rioja wine industry, with the aim of competing for the sizable British market. Murrieta was dispatched to Bordeaux to learn the latest advances in the Bordeaux wine industry, much like Quintano had been several decades before. One of the improvements Murrieta brought back was the utilization of large vats to crush and ferment the grapes, in place of the outdoor stone lagos in which grapes were traditionally crushed by the feet of the vineyard workers. Murrieta also reintroduced the use of oak for aging. In the 1850s, the fungal disease powdery mildew began to ravage vineyards in nearby Galicia, opening up the