La Rioja Alta S.A, Vina Ardanza Reserva, Rioja, Spain 2015

VINEYARD, GRAPES & AGEING

The Tempranillo (78%) comes from 30-year-old vines in our Cuesta (Cenicero) and Montecillo (Fuenmayor) vineyards. The Garnacha (22%) is from La Pedriza in Tudelilla, Rioja Oriental, a 40-hectare estate with unbeatable conditions for growing this variety. We started picking in mid-October. We harvested the grapes manually and took them in refrigerated vehicles to the winery where, for the first time in the brand’s history, they underwent our rigorous optical selection process, examining each and every berry. Alcoholic fermentation took place naturally and malolactic fermentation concluded at the end of the year. In March 2016, the chosen wines were put in barrels to start aging separately: the Tempranillo, for 36 months, with six manual rackings, in American oak barrels averaging 4 years in age; the Garnacha, for 30 months, with five manual rackings, in American oak barrels with two and three wines. The final blend was bottled in September 2019.

PAIRING

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

TASTING NOTES

Garnet red, medium-high depth, with an elegant palette. The nose stands out for its power, a highly-complex blend of spicy and balsamic aromas of sweet liquorice, patisserie, vanilla, cinnamon, cocoa, coffee and nutmeg, and notes of stewed red fruits. Outstanding balance, pleasant freshness and great structure in the mouth, with supple, round tannins. Very pleasant mouthfeel. An ample aftertaste of spicy notes, sweet liquorice and ripe fruit makes Viña Ardanza 2015 a timeless wine, with tremendous laying-down potential and one of the best vintages of the XXI.

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.