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2015 La Rioja Alta S.A. Gran Reserva 904

97 points | Penin Guide

2015 La Rioja Alta S.A. Gran Reserva 904 – “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.” (May 2022)

96 points | Tim Atkin

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 | John Gilman

The 2015 La Rioja Alta S.A. Gran Reserva 904 is crafted from a blend of eighty-nine percent tempranillo and eleven percent graciano in this vintage, with all of these vines at least sixty years of age. The wine was raised in four and a half year-old American oak barrels for thirty-three months prior to assemblage and bottling. The wine offers up a stunningly beautiful bouquet of red and black raspberries, cigar wrapper, a lovely array of Rioja spice tones, salty soil tones, woodsmoke and a lovely framing of coconutty American oak. On the palate the wine is deep, ripe and full-bodied, with a sappy core of fruit, superb soil inflection and grip, suave, seamless tannins, beautiful focus and balance and a very, very long, complex and utterly refined finish. This wine comes in at 14.5 percent in the ripe vintage of 2015, but there is absolutely no hint of heat on the backend, which is just utterly classical and stunning. At eight years of age, this wine is certainly approachable already, but in reality it is still a young wine and it will not to show all of its layers of complexity without another decade’s worth of bottle age. It is a brilliant wine. 2023-2085+ (June 2023)

95 points | Wine Advocate

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. (LG – June 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 flavours 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 spice and cake. (JR March 2021)

£360.00£459.61

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Tasting Note

Medium-high robe with an elegant garnet rim. Great aromatic complexity, with notes of wild strawberry, red cherry, plum, blackberry and cranberry combined with aromas of tobacco, brioche, ground coffee, caramel, cedar and cinnamon blossom. The alcohol and acidity are elegantly balanced on the palate and its polished, gentle tannins and freshness provide a smooth and refined mouthfeel. Fine, delicate and very long aftertaste, that will continue to be rounded with time in the bottle, making this new Gran Reserva 904 a wine with great cellaring potential.

Harvest

The good weather throughout the cycle favoured an excellent vegetative and sanitary condition of our grapes. All components were balanced, especially in the fruit from vineyards located at high elevation, in cooler areas and with moderate vigour. Towards the end of the ripening stage, we had days with significant temperature variations, sunny mornings and very cold nights, so maturation was very well-balanced in this final period. The resulting wines stand out for their fresh, Atlantic character, elegant acidity, fruit intensity and balanced, silky tannins. These qualities make them particularly well-suited to ageing.

Vineyard, Grapes & Ageing

Tempranillo (90%) is the main variety. Grapes are selected from our vineyards in Villalba, Briñas and Rodezno, and are blended with 10% Graciano from the Montecillo vineyard in Fuenmayor.

Tempranillo was the first to be harvested, followed 23 days later by the Graciano from Montecillo. All the grapes were placed in small boxes and transported in refrigerated vehicles to preserve the integrity of the fruit. This vintage was the first that the grapes were optically selected, berry by berry, so only those that met our strictest quality standards were chosen for this wine. Alcoholic fermentation in tanks lasted 21 days and was followed by malolactic fermentation. In January 2016 we selected the finest wines to age them in American oak barrels with an average age of four and a half years and made by our own in-house coopers. After four years in these barrels and traditional rackings —by hand and candlelight— every six months, the final blend was bottled in February 2020.

Food Pairing
Especially recommended with all kinds of meat and stews, seasoned fish and desserts with chocolate or red fruit toppings. Perfect as an after-dinner drink.
For more information about La Rioja Alta wines click here or visit their website here.
Vintage

2015

Varietals

89% Tempranillo, 11% Graciano

Country

Spain

Region

Rioja

Alcohol by Volume

14.5%

Cellaring Potential

Ready 2023 – 2048

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