LA RIOJA ALTA Rioja Gran Reserva '904' - Rioja Alta 2015 MAGNUM in Own Wooden Case

Description

The First Ever ‘Selección Especial’
For the first time in its century-long history, La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904 has been designated ‘Selección Especial’. The picture of elegance, complexity, and concentration - and with incredible capacity to age - this wine is not to be missed.

A Unique Release
‘Selección Especial’ is a term used by La Rioja Alta only in the very finest vintages, years where the growing conditions produce a wine so extraordinary it must be celebrated. Viña Ardanza has seen four vintages elevated to this level, 890 twice, leaving this first 904 ‘Selección Especial’ a rare beast indeed.

The 2015 vintage was praised by winemaker José Saenz as “without a doubt, one of the best ever for us in Rioja”. The Atlantic influence on the season was especially pronounced, creating wines of superb freshness and taut structure. The fruit was selected by handpicking in the vineyard, then again in the winery by a state-of-the-art optical sorter, and then repeatedly whittled down by the winemaker during its four years in barrel, resulting in a 904 that represents the best of this incredible vintage.

La Rioja Alta s.a.
Formed by five families in the late 19th century, the La Rioja Alta S.A. winery is one of the most iconic names in Fine Wine, and a benchmark for the traditional style of Rioja. Their Tempranillo-led reds are aged for remarkably long periods in barrels from the producer’s cooperage, and they are one of the last remaining producers to rack their wines by hand and by candlelight – which they do every six months. While they always upheld standards and tradition, La Rioja Alta S.A. never stopped experimenting and pushing for better quality, offering some of the purest, more precise expressions of Tempranillo in the world.

*****

JAMES SUCKLING 97 points
"A perfumed nose of plums, mulberries, mushrooms, caramel, sweet tobacco and sweet spices. Full-bodied with velvety, fine tannins and lively acidity. Balanced and supple with a creamy texture. Delicate and precise with a long, polished finish."

VINOUS 95 points
"Vivid ruby. Expansive red and blue fruit preserve, tobacco, potpourri, spice and botanical herb aromas, with vanilla and smoky mineral notes emerging as the wine opens up. Sappy, penetrating and gently chewy on the palate, offering vibrant, mineral- and spice-accented black raspberry, bitter cherry and rose pastille flavors that deepen and turn sweeter on the back half. Shows sharp focus and floral lift on the impressively long, youthfully tannic finish, which leaves behind notes of candied blue fruits and spicecake.

THE WINE ADVOCATE 95 points
Drink Date 2024 - 2035 - They used the words subtlety, elegance, finesse, delicacy and silk to define the 2015 Gran Reserva 904 Selección Especial, a blend of 90% Tempranillo from their vineyards in Villalba, Briñas and Rodezno with 10% Graciano from the Montecillo vineyard in Fuenmayor that was picked 23 days later than the Tempranillo. The grapes were sorted optically for the first time, and they fermented in stainless steel where the wine went through malolactic too. The wine was put in barrel in January 2016—used American oak barrels built by their own coopers—where it matured for four years, during which time it was racked every six months. 2015 was a healthy vintage with balanced ripeness that delivered wines with good aging potential. They thought the wine needed a little more time in bottle to polish those tannins and have decided to hold it and release the wine around March 2023; it will be marked Selección Especial, the first 904 to do so, as they have very high hopes for this year and believe it's one of the finest vintages. They think it will develop the sophistication in the palate with a little more time and that is should achieve the silkiness that is the signature of 904. This is very 2015; I saw quite strong tannins in all the 2015 wines I tasted from Rioja Alta. There are some 150,000 bottles of this. - Luis Gutiérrez 07/22