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La Rioja Alta Viña Ardanza Reserva, Rioja 2017
From a smaller vintage of highly concentrated grapes, the 2017 Ardanza is once again a masterpiece of long-aged Rioja with power, depth and complexity. What sets La Rioja Alta apart from other traditionalists is that their wines also retain plenty of sweetness, vigour and flavour on the palate.
Price:
£29.00
Bottle
Price:
£348.00
Case of 12
In Stock
Code: SP20201
Wine characteristics
- Red Wine
- Full-bodied
- Tempranillo
- 75cl
- Now to 2034
- 14.5% Alcohol
- bouquet/flavour marked by oak
- Cork, natural
La Rioja Alta
Headquartered alongside Bodegas Muga in the Barrio del Estación, the old railway quarter of Haro – a popular location for wine exporters during the phylloxera crisis in France - La Rioja Alta is one of the most resolutely traditional of the region’s bodegas. It was founded in 1890 by a consortium of five families, including the Aranas, Ardanzas and the Alberdis (names now immortalised as Reservas. See below), and now commands an impressive vineyard portfolio of over 700 ha, comprising 470ha in the Rioja Alta, 65ha in the Alavesa, where Barón de Oña is produced, 63ha in the Baja, 74ha in the Galician denominación of Rías Baixas and 95ha in DO Ribera del Duero.
As the company expanded, it outgrew its premises in Haro, which now house corporate offices, a visitor centre and shop and a wine storage facility. The main business of La Rioja Alta takes place these days at its purpose-built winery in Labastida, a mile down the road, a strikingly handsome stone building completed in 1996. The fermentation tanks are set under the wooden floor of a stunning, light-flooded hall, the sparkling steel lids visible, and beneath them is a huge barrel-ageing cellar. It’s reckoned that La Rioja Alta have, at any given time, some 45,000 barrels on the go, and carry around eight years’ worth of stock. Sensibly, the company does its own coopering in-house. Oak is imported from Ohio and Pennsylvania, but there is little reverse traffic, the company’s second biggest export market after the UK being ...