More often than not, my WOTW is a wine that I’m crushing on because of its combination of structure, deliciousness and food friendliness. Sometimes, I chose a WOTW based on the aforementioned factors, and because the wine evokes memorable experience the for one reason or another.
That’s the case with the 2016 La Rioja Alta Rioja Viña Ardanza Reserva.
Disclosure: Wine provided as a media sample. No other compensation was involved. All opinions are mine.
The Memory
My wife and I first visited Rioja in 2013. After a long train ride from Barcelona to La Rioja, and a close-call in my first roundabout in Europe, we checked into the beautiful and historic Los Agustino Hotel in Haro, the capital of La Rioja Alta.
It was early evening and we were famished. A proper dinner in Spain was at least 3 hours away.
We checked with the front desk, and all they could offer us was a bottle of wine and generous plate of Manchego cheese.
Sold!
That bottle of wine was our first Rioja wine, in Rioja.
It was the 2008 La Rioja Alta Viña Ardanza Reserva. We finished that glorious bottle of wine and polished off that plate of cheese too! After a long day of travel, it was a welcome to La Rioja we’ll always remember.
That experience was nearly a decade ago, and it still warms our hearts when we think about it!
2016 La Rioja Alta Rioja Viña Ardanza Reserva
This wine is a blend of 80% Tempranillo from 30 y.o. vines planted on predominately clay limestone soils, and 20% Garnacha planted on deep rocky soils at 500 m elevation in Rioja Oriental. The grapes were manually harvested. The Tempranillo and Garnacha were raised separately; the Tempranillo was raised for 36 months in 4 y.o. American oak, and the Garnacha 30 months. The final blend was bottled in June 2020. It will be released next month.
Tasting Note: Medium garnet color with enticing red fruit, balsamic, leather, sun-baked earth, licorice and baking spice aromas. On the palate, it’s medium-bodied and harmonious with vibrant acidity and well integrated tannins. It shows ripe red and Morello cherry, raspberry, mocha and baking spice flavors with a long, satisfying finish. 14.5% abv|SRP – $45|92pts.
This wine offers tremendous quality for the price and, as is the way with traditional Rioja, the wine is aged and ready to drink up release! Give it some air now and it will sing for you, but it will also age gracefully.
Pair with all kinds of meat, stews and aged hard cheeses. I also think this wine would pair well with seared pepper crusted Ahi tuna.
About La Rioja Alta, S.A.
Five Riojan and Basque families founded the Sociedad Vinicola de la Rioja Alta in Haro’s Station District in 1890. Their first president was a woman: Doña Saturnina Garcia Cid y Garate. In 1904 Don Alfredo Ardanza, founder of La Rioja Alta and owner of the Ardanza Winery, proposed a merger of the companies. That entity has been known as La Rioja Alta, S.A. since 1941.
The estate’s two top wines are named for these dates – Gran Reserva 890 and Gran Reserva 904 respectively
The company has grown slowly but steady throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century. Today, La Rioja Alta S.A. does a world class job of straddling the line between tradition and state of the art innovation. It still makes its own barrels and adhere to traditional Riojan long ageing protocols. But in addition to their century old winery, they have a state of the art winemaking facility.
In terms of sustainability, they limit treatments in their vineyards, invest in renewable energy, recyle water and use sustainably processed corks.
Grupo La Rioja Alta also owns the Torre de Oña estate in the Alavesa subregion of Rioja, Áster in Ribera del Duero, and Lagar de Cervera in the Rias Baixas region of Galicia.
Last year, the La Rioja Alta S.A. was named the world’s fourth most admired wine brand by Drinks International. The World’s Most Admired Wine Brands is a listing of the 50 most prestigious wine companies in the world.