2019 Viña Ardanza Reserva, La Rioja Alta

Rioja Alta, Rioja, Spain

La Rioja Alta’s Viña Ardanza Reserva is one of the finest Reserva’s available and a benchmark for the region.  Every vintage is outstanding and never fails to elicit a smile upon drinking.    La Rioja Alta is the gold standard for traditional bodegas: a winery that ages their wines the old-fashioned way, meaning three years in barrel with two rackings a year, followed by three years in bottle.

Outstanding aromatic intensity on the nose, with spicy and balsamic liquorice, clove, nutmeg and black pepper notes, enveloping a subtle hint of ripe red fruit: brandied cherry and raspberry jam. The palate is well-balanced and fresh, with a broad range of flavours and soft, round tannins, leading to a spicy, balsam-like aftertaste on the finish.

A Viña Ardanza in its prime and with a long life ahead of it.

The 2019 vintage comprises 80% Tempranillo from Fuenmayor and Cenicero blended together with 20% Garnacha from the famous ‘La Pedriza’ vineyard in Tudelilla.

Why we love it

Always fantastic and such amazing value for the quality you get.   It’s a smile-inducing bottle of wine.

Whats in the bottle
Tempranillo 80% and Garnacha 20%

Notable Awards
95/100 points. James Suckling 94+/100 points. Robert Parker Wine Advocate

£33.50
Taxes included.

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  • Producer Information
  • Winemaking
  • Tech Stuff

Few names embody the soul of traditional Rioja quite like La Rioja Alta. Founded in 1890 by five families in Haro’s historic Barrio de la Estación, the bodega remains one of Spain’s most revered and steadfastly classical producers. Over more than 130 years, it has built a reputation for patience, precision, and unwavering respect for time, crafting wines that mature not just in oak, but in character.

The estate’s vineyards lie in the cool, high-altitude reaches of Rioja Alta, where clay-limestone soils and Atlantic influences yield Tempranillo of exceptional finesse and natural acidity. From these vines come wines that are born for ageing, vibrant in youth, transcendent with maturity. The grapes are vinified in a combination of tradition and control, then matured in American oak barrels made by La Rioja Alta’s own cooperage, ensuring absolute consistency of style and quality.

Their hierarchy of labels, Viña Alberdi, Viña Ardanza, Gran Reserva 904, and the legendary Gran Reserva 890, represents not just increasing age, but increasing depth and complexity. Each is released only when deemed ready, often more than a decade after harvest, offering drinkers a taste of Rioja’s past made freshly alive.

At La Rioja Alta, time isn’t just an ingredient, it’s the guiding philosophy. The result is wines that balance grace with gravitas, offering an ageless expression of what makes Rioja not merely a region, but a legacy.

Manual picking of the grapes in these plots began at the end of September. Once harvested, the bunches were placed in 20 kg boxes and transported to the winery in refrigerated vehicles. After passing through the optical selection tables, only perfectly ripe grapes were included in the blend. Once fermentation was completed, the selected wines were transferred to barrels in February 2017 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 that had previously contained two to three wines. The final blend was bottled in June 2020.

Grape
Garnacha, Tempranillo

Country
Spain

Producer
La Rioja Alta

Region
Rioja

Types
Red Wine

Size
750ml

Vintage
2019

2019 Viña Ardanza Reserva, La Rioja Alta

£33.50

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