La Rioja Alta S.A.

La Rioja Alta S.A., located in the Rioja wine region of Spain, is one of the oldest and largest high-quality wine regions in Spain, often referred to as the "Bordeaux of Spain." It is home to numerous outstanding wineries, with La Rioja Alta being a standout, now part of the La Rioja Alta Group.

One of the oldest wineries in Rioja, La Rioja Alta traces its roots back to 1890 when Don Daniel Alfredo Ardanza, along with four other families, founded this legendary winery. Since its inception, they have harbored dreams of crafting top-notch wines and sharing them with the world.

The birth of their first Reserva 1890 marked La Rioja Alta's splendid entry into the wine world, evolving into the now-classic Gran Reserva 890.

In 1904, the founder of the winery, Don Alfredo Andanza, merged his own winery, Bodega Ardanza, with La Rioja Alta. To commemorate this, the winery introduced Reserva 1904, the precursor to the famous Gran Reserva 904.

Stylistically, La Rioja Alta is a traditional Rioja winery, favoring long aging in American oak barrels. Notably, it is one of the two Rioja wineries with cooperages for making oak barrels, a rare practice globally. Since 2002, La Rioja Alta has reverted to the tradition of making all its oak barrels in-house. As a traditionally positioned winery, they use a remarkable number of American oak barrels and still adhere to manual racking by gravity, a time-consuming and labor-intensive process that yields superior results.

Today, the winery continues the tradition of making and using their oak barrels. All self-made barrels are used for the aging of 890, 904, and Ardanza. In Rioja, red wines are classified based on aging standards, and La Rioja Alta's five wines adhere to higher aging standards:

• Rioja: No oak aging or less than 1 year in barrels
• Crianza: At least 1 year in barrels, 1 year in bottles (a total of 2 years)
• Reserva: At least 1 year in barrels, 2 years in bottles (a total of 3 years)
• Gran Reserva: At least 2 years in barrels, 3 years in bottles (a total of 5 years)

La Rioja Alta's five wines adhere to the following aging standards:

• Vina Alberdi Reserva: 2 years in barrels, at least 3 years in bottles (a total of 5 years)
• Vina Arana Reserva: 3 years in barrels, at least 3 years in bottles (a total of 6 years)
• Vina Ardanza Reserva: 3 years in barrels, at least 6 years in bottles (a total of 9 years)
• 904 Gran Reserva: 4 years in barrels, at least 6 years in bottles (a total of 10 years)
• 890 Gran Reserva: 6 years in barrels, at least 6 years in bottles (a total of 12 years)

Over the centuries, the winery has grown to become one of Rioja's most renowned. While pursuing modernization in equipment and management, they hold steadfast to tradition in winemaking and aging, always dedicated to sharing top-tier Rioja with the world. This is La Rioja Alta, the riverside winery.

La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 890 2010: Penin: 100 points; RP: 97 points; JS: 97 points;
La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904 2011: GP: 96 points; JS: 96 points; RP: 94 points;
La Rioja Alta Vina Ardanza Reserva 2012: JS: 95 points; RP: 94 points.