Tuesday, November 7th, 2023
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Their Greatest Vintage Since 1964
"One of the finest vintages." -Parker
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"Very impressive... Juicy, creamy finish lasting a minute. Really elegant and layered. It goes on and on. A real Rioja Gran Reserva and I recommend buying a case!" 98 Points, James Suckling
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Dear Artisans,
One of the world's most iconic collectibles has finally released in what is likely one of their finest vintages to date. This is the first time they have ever labeled this Gran Reserva 904 as their coveted 'Seleccion Especial’ designation, and this wine is absolutely deserving.
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We also still have stock of their 2018, which is unequivocally the finest red wine on this planet for under $24!
In 2018, ALL of the fruit that was destined for their famous $200 and $80 Gran Reservas 890 (which was Spectator's #4 Top 100 Wine of 2018) and 904 went into their Vina Alberdi Reserva.
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La Rioja Alta is one of Spain's the world's greatest and most beloved wineries. For 132 years (since 1890) they've made classically elegant and polished Rioja wines that are always released after many years aging in their cellars. They do all the work, you don’t pay the price. It’s a perfect arrangement.
Regarded by many as the greatest Rioja wines ever, they offer insanely high-quality for prices so low they seem like typos.
Burgundy lovers take notice!
For those of you not familiar with La Rioja Alta, this wine has been a Cult Classic for decades.
The wine spent four years in barrel and then, once bottled, another five years aging in the bodega's cellars. The result is a wine that is drinking extremely well today, almost a decade from the vintage...plus it will continue rounding off its fine bouquet in the bottle over time.
Reflecting the excellence of the vintage, as well as its power, this is the latest in a superb run of 904 Gran Reservas. These delicious wines can grace your cellar for years to come but are also so delicious to drink now and whenever you please. Talk about brilliant investments for your cellar! Wines like this rarely come at such a gentle price.
Salud,
—James Tran
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2015 La Rioja Alta 904 Seleccion Especial Gran Reserva
98 Points - James Suckling:
"Very impressive complexity and width on the nose, showing lots of savoriness with mushrooms, sandalwood, cedar, sweet spices, dried oranges and tobacco. Really even and juicy on the palate with fine and very present tannins. Juicy, creamy finish lasting a minute. Really elegant and layered. It goes on and on. A real Rioja Gran Reserva and I recommend buying a case! The first vintage that La Rioja Alta labelled ‘Seleccion Especial’. So appealing now, but this will evolve well in the next 20 years."
97 Points - Penin Guide:
"COLOUR: cherry, garnet rim AROMA : balanced, complex, ripe fruit, spicy, fine reductive notes, meaty notes, earthy notes FLAVOUR: good structure, flavourful, round tannins, balanced, great length." (5/2022)
96 Points - Tim Atkin, MW:
"One of a pair of current releases of 904, both of them from warmer vintages, this delightful 2015 is a felicitous cuvée of Tempranillo and 10% Graciano. All sourced from higher altitude vineyards, this will reward further time in bottle, showing classic sweet spices, fine tannins, layers of red and black fruits and chalky freshness."
95 Points - Robert Parker's WA:
"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. Drink 2024-2035." - LG (7/2022)
95 Points - Vinous:
"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. Drink 2025-2036."
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Varietal Composition: 90% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano from 40-year-old vines
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Alcohol: 14.5%
- 3,200 cases imported
- 24 bottles arrive tomorrow 11/8/23
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Wally's: $110.00
Wine.com: $100.00
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2018 La Rioja Alta Vina Alberdi Reserva
93 Points - James Suckling:
"A pretty nose of raspberries, cassis, fresh herbs, vanilla and sweet spices. It’s medium-bodied with round tannins. Creamy and fruity with chocolatey character on the mid-palate. Supple finish with excellent length. Tangy acidity. 100% tempranillo. Drink or hold." (Aug 2021)
92 Points - Robert Parker's WA:
"Their young and fresh red 2018 Viña Alberdi, already a Reserva (Crianza in Spain), matured in oak barrel for two years—in new barrels for the first year and in used barrels for the second year. During the élevage, they racked the wine manually from barrel to barrel four times. 2018 was a year of lower alcohol and more freshness in the wines, and they thought the wines were not designed for the long haul; so, they didn't produce any other wine, and so the only wine from 2018 IS VIÑA ALBERDI! Which means that all the Tempranillo grapes that were destined for 890, 904 and all the other wines went to this wine. They didn't use the Garnacha (which was sold in bulk). So, this is a super- Viña Alberdi, which shows more Crianza style in this cooler vintage but with very good depth and complexity, perhaps a more modern and fresher style. The wine has a seamless palate and a juicy texture, with more color than other vintages, more intensity, more fruit... It has grapes from very good vineyards and poor soils that were never destined for this wine. Highly recommendable and very versatile. It has potential to age. They produced a whopping one million bottles of it. It was bottled in March 2021." - Luis Gutierrez (Jul 2022)
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Varietal Composition: 100% Tempranillo from 40-year-old vines
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Alcohol: 13.5%
- 9,500 cases imported
- 60 bottles left in-stock
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Our Prices:
$23.97 btl (1-5)
$21.97 btl (6-11)
$19.97 btl (12+)
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2015 La Rioja Alta Vina Ardanza Reserva
96 Points - James Suckling:
"A rich nose of raspberry, crushed strawberry, blueberry, coconut, cedar and sweet spice. It’s medium-to full-bodied with fine tannins and fresh acidity. Creamy, balanced and layered with vibrant, spicy character. Long and polished. 80% tempranillo and 20% garnacha. Drink or hold." (11/22/21)
94 Points - Vinous Media:
"Deep magenta. An intensely perfumed bouquet evokes ripe black raspberry, cherry cola, potpourri, tobacco and exotic spices, plus a smoky mineral flourish. Sweet and broad in the mouth, offering lush red and blue fruit, spicecake, mocha and coconut flavors that firm up on the back half. Finishes extremely long and spicy, with resonating florality, gently chewy tannins and lingering oak spice notes." -JR (4/21)
94 Points - Tim Atkin, MW:
"One of two vintages of Ardanza that are currently on the market, the 2015 is a cuvée of Tempranillo from Fuenmayor and Cenicero and 20% Garnacha from high altitude Tudelilla in the Rioja Oriental. Savoury and aromatic, with a slight animal note, this has raspberry and wild strawberry fruit, scented oak and sweet baking spices. 2021-2027." (2021)
94 Points - Robert Parker's WA:
"I tasted two vintages of their sleek and polished blend of Tempranillo and Garnacha, the oldest of which is the 2015 Viña Ardanza Reserva. It's a blend of 78% Tempranillo and 22% Garnacha (because they found that they needed a little more volume in the wine) from a powerful, warm and ripe year, very interesting to compare with the 2016. They consider 2015 a very good vintage; they compare it with 2001, a year when they produced all the wines. There are three wines from 2015, and there is something in common in all thee wines. The grapes were picked in mid-October and put through optical sorting to ferment followed by malolactic until the end of the year. The wine matured in used American oak barrels—the Tempranillo for 36 months with six manual rackings and the Garnacha for 30 months with five rackings. I find it to be more tertiary, with hints of leather and cured meat and a little wild, very spicy. It has a powerful palate with plenty of tannin, and it even feels that it needs some more polishing of perhaps powerful food... The final blend was bottled in September 2019. No 2013 or 2014 were produced." - Luis Gutierrez (Jul 2022)
93 Points - Decanter Magazine:
"Bright beacon of freshness, layers of dark cherry fruit, with hints of a bright Garnacha. Fine and soft tannin, lots of mocha and cacao. Juicy, lively, with a long finish. A model blend, excellent." (11/21)
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Varietal Composition: 80% Tempranillo and 20% Garnacha
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Alcohol: 13.5%
- 9,500 cases imported
- 60 bottles left
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