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Red dry
A powerful, complex wine that interweaves spicy, balsamic nuances — liquorice, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cocoa — with notes of cooked red berries. The palate reveals excellent balance, soft, silky tannins and a long finish of spices and red berries.
The wine is made from 30-year-old 'Tempranillo' and 17-year-old 'Garnacha' vines from separate vineyards. The producer uses an optical berry sorting process, allowing each berry to be assessed individually. The wines from both varieties were aged separately — 'Tempranillo' for 36 months and 'Garnacha' for 30 months in used American oak barrels.
Serve at 16–18 °C with various meat dishes and stews. Also pairs with dark chocolate desserts.
No 2018 was produced, so after the 2017 I tasted last year, we jumped to the 2019 Viña Ardanza Reserva, produced with a blend of 80% Tempranillo and 20% Garnacha. It fermented destemmed in stainless steel and aged in American oak barrels, 36 months for the Tempranillo and 30 months for Garnacha, and was blended before bottling. 2019 is a very good year for them, a small crop of powerful and concentrated wines when they produced all their brands, an exception. This is spicy, structured, balanced and powerful in this warm year, reaching the customary 14.5% alcohol and keeping a pH of 3.54 and 5.5 grams of acidity. It's still very young and undeveloped, with the classical profile, generous in American oak aromas and flavors that should slowly integrate in the wine with years in bottle. For them, 2019 means a change in Ardanza, less spicy (but still quite spicy, with clove, vanilla and tobacco leaves) and with more fresh fruit from the Garnacha.
Bodegas La Rioja Alta is undoubtedly a representative of old Rioja, exceptionally valuing and cultivating the region's traditional winemaking methods. Their “Gran Reserva” wine is aged for no less than six years in barrel and a further two years in bottle before reaching the consumer, embodying patience and mastery. The high-altitude vineyards of La Rioja Alta, with their unique conditions, lend a subtlety to the wines, sometimes even reminiscent of Burgundy’s ‘Pinot Noir’. While the La Rioja Alta group also includes wineries in Galicia (Rias Baixas) and Ribera del Duero (Burgos), it is their traditional Rioja style that remains their hallmark.
Wine Style
La Rioja Alta wines are characterized by elegance, complexity, and longevity. They reflect the harmony between Rioja terroir and traditional winemaking.
Prestigious Vineyards
La Rioja Alta manages high-altitude vineyards in the Rioja Alta region:
These unique vineyard characteristics and meticulous work in the vineyard are the foundation for the distinctive character of La Rioja Alta wines.
Aging and Drinking Window
La Rioja Alta wines are crafted for slow enjoyment. The long aging process in oak barrels and bottles imparts exceptional complexity and harmony. While these wines can be enjoyed in their youth, their true potential unfolds after many years of bottle aging. They are wines valued for their longevity and ability to improve over time.
