La Rioja Alta - Gran Reserva 904 2015
La Rioja Alta, SA is located in the La Rioja region of Spain . The estate was established in 1890 by five Riojan and Basque families. The original La Rioja Alta winery is based in Haro , but there is a second site in Labastida in the Rioja Alavesa which was built in 1996. In 1904, the Ardanza winery, owned by Don Alfredo Ardanza, joined La Rioja Alta. To commemorate the event, the Gran Reserva 904 was produced for the first time. Grupo La Rioja Alta also owns the Torre de Oña winery in the Alavesa sub-region of Rioja, Áster in Ribera del Duero and Lagar de Cervera in the Rias Baixas region of Galicia. The estate consists of approximately 660 hectares of vineyards around La Rioja. The winery located in Haro includes a cooperage, where barrels are made from American oak. Each barrel is racked by candlelight to naturally remove sediment and allow the team to monitor each barrel individually.
La Rioja Alta, SA is committed to the environment : limited treatments in the vineyards, investments in clean energy, water reuse, a solar farm, and the corks and boxes are also managed sustainably. Currently, 16 hectares are certified organic, and the goal is to increase this proportion. The board of directors also launched the Viña Ardanza Solidario program; 1% of the annual net profit (with a minimum of €100,000 per year) is allocated to humanitarian and philanthropic causes.
The 2015 Gran Reserva 904 is a blend of Tempranillo (90%) from vines planted in Briñas, Rodezno and Villalba and Graciano (10%) from the Montecillo vineyard in the municipality of Fuenmayor. After destemming and light crushing, the grapes were placed in vats where they underwent alcoholic fermentation for 21 days. In January 2016, the wine was transferred to 4.5-year-old American oak barrels , where it remained for 4 years . During aging, the wine was racked every 6 months. The final blend was bottled in February 2020.
Grape varieties: 90% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano