La Rioja Alta S.A. Gran Reserva 904, Rioja, Spain 2015

VINEYARD, GRAPES & AGEING

Tempranillo (89%) from vines over 60 years old planted in Briñas, Rodezno and Villalba, and Graciano (11%) from our Montecillo vineyard in the municipality of Fuenmayor. The grapes were collected in boxes and transported to the winery in refrigerated vehicles to preserve all their integrity. After destemming and light crushing, the grapes were put in tanks where they underwent alcoholic fermentation for 17 days. Batches were selected and allowed to complete malolactic fermentation naturally over 75 days. In June 2012, the wine was transferred to four-and-a-half-year-old American oak barrels (made in-house), where it stayed until March 2015. During aging, the wine was racked eight times using traditional barrel-to- barrel methods. The final blend was bottled I November 2016.

PAIRING

Main courses, all kinds of meats, stews and desserts with couverture chocolate. Ideal as an after-dinner drink.

TASTING NOTES

Intense, deep cherry-red with a garnet-red rim. Intense and complex aromas, dominated by fruit (blackberry jam, raspberries and orange zest) that reveals underlying spicy and balsamic notes of cigar box, cedar liquorice, cloves, chocolate mints and toasted wood. Elegantly refined entry. Fresh and lively in the mouth, nicely balanced with polished, silky tannins and a gentle, delicate finish. Very long aftertaste, with citrus and balsamic notes that provide long, complex final sensations.

HISTORY

La Rioja Alta, S.A. is a Spanish winery based in Haro, La Rioja. It was founded in 1890 by five local growers: Daniel-Alfredo Ardanza y Sanchez, Saturnina Garcia Cid y Gárete, Dionisio del Prado y Lablanca, Felipe Puig de la Bellacasa y Herrán, and Mariano Lacorte Tapia. In 1904 Alfredo Ardanza merged the group with his own winery. Since then, two of the flagship gran reserva wines of La Rioja Alta have been designated 890 and 904 in honor of those dates, with the first digit omitted to prevent confusion with the vintage year. The Gran Reserva 904 consists of 90% tempranillo and 10% graciano, whereas the Gran Reserva 890 also adds a small amount of mazuelo. In addition to these two wines, La Rioja Alta also produces Viña Ardanza which is a blend of tempranillo with 20% garnacha, and a lighter Viña Arana blended with graciano and mazuelo. The winery currently has 425 hectares of vineyards.