Rioja Reserva Viña Ardanza La Rioja Alta S.A. 2017

Description

Combining tradition and state-of-the-art technology, La Rioja Alta, S.A. is an iconic, world-class producer of classically-styled Reserva and Gran Reserva wines which undergo considerable cask-ageing in order to achieve La Rioja Alta S.A.'s renowned style. La Rioja Alta, S.A. was founded in 1890, in the old railway quarter of Haro, by five families including the Aranas, the Ardanzas and the Alberdis - their names are now celebrated on each of the Reserva wines. The company gradually expanded, and in 1996 a new purpose-built winery in Labastida was completed, focussing on improving quality and enabling the purest expressions of fruit to be showcased in the wines. Oak is at the heart of the ageing process, and La Rioja Alta, S.A. boasts its own in-house coopers who use artisanal methods to produce their own barrels from wood imported from the US and air-dried on site in Haro. Traditional manual racking takes place by candlelight every six months, and the vines are sustainably farmed. Their awardwinning wines consistently receive accolades world-wide and in 2022, La Rioja Alta, S.A. was declared the ‘World’s Fourth Most Admired Wine Brand’ by Drinks International

The Tempranillo grapes come from the La Cuesta vineyard, in Cenicero and the Montecillo vineyard in Fuenmayor. Both sites are over 30 years-old and their soils are predominantly clay-limestone. The Garnacha grapes come from ‘La Pedriza’, a 70- hectare vineyard with deep rocky soils at 500 metres’ elevation in Tudelilla in Rioja Oriental. This vineyard site offers outstanding conditions for growing Garnacha. La Rioja Alta is committed to respecting and protecting the environment. In the vineyard, treatments are limited, investments have been made into clean energy sources and water is reused. Insect shelters have been installed in vineyards, promoting environmentally-friendly plant health defence while increasing the biodiversity in the vineyard. The grapes are hand-harvested at optimal ripeness.

Following meticulous sorting on optical selection tables, only the perfectly ripe grapes were fermented, using indigenous yeasts. The carefully selected wines were transferred to barrels and aged separately: 36 months in four-year-old American oak barrels for the Tempranillo, with six manual rackings; and 30 months for the Garnacha, with five manual rackings, in barrels of 2 to 3 passages. Bottle-aged for three years.

An emblematic Rioja showing exquisite balance, silkiness and opulence. Aromatic notes of spice, liquorice and pepper envelope ripe red fruits with a touch of balsamic on the long, smooth finish.