A family winery founded in Rioja more than 220 years ago produces this perfect red for your table. La Rioja Alta, SA, is under its fifth generation of family management and is located in the Rioja Alta region.
We recently had the chance to taste the remarkable Viña Ardanza 2016 Reserva. Grapes from the Rioja Alta subregion sit at a loftier altitude in Rioja and the cooler temperatures produce higher acidity. Grapes ripen more gradually, allowing for more complex flavors.
Tempranillo (80%) is blended with Garnacha. The grapes are hand-picked and transported in refrigerated boxes (it gets hot in Spain!). The Tempranillo is aged for 36 months in American oak and the Garnacha is aged for 30 months.
In the glass, the wine is an intense garnet color. The nose gives a foretaste of what’s to come: rich fruit aromas of stewed cherries. This wine opens up wonderfully on the palate, the raspberry, and red fruit touched with baking savory spices. The oaking is refined and brings subtle vanilla to the soft, round tannins. It is a wine that is elegant and accessible yet powerful and stylish. It’s a wine you don’t want to swallow because you want the enjoyment to continue.
This is a perfect match for roast meats, game, spicy fish casseroles, smoked and aged cheeses, and barbecues. The retail price is about $41 and is a tantalizing value at that figure.
La Rioja Alta, SA, was recently recognized as one of the world’s most admired wine brands. In the late 1980s company expanded with a new winery in the Rioja Alavesa subregion and then into Ribera del Duero, and the home of Albariño, Riax Baixas.
Full disclosure: This wine was received as a marketing sample.
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