Dear *|FNAME|*,

The wines of La Rioja Alta S.A. are ‘some of the finest Rioja that can grace your cellar’, enthuses Neal Martin, and their legendary 904 and 890 Gran Reservas have just arrived!

‘The Gran Reserva 904 has been one of my go-to cuvées since my earliest days as a wine lover. … Magnificent,’ says Martin. The newly released Gran Reserva 904 from the 2015 vintage is the first ever to receive the mention ‘Selección Especial’ on the label, in the nearly 120 years of the wine’s existence. This designation is only given in the finest of vintages, and this blend of 90% Tempranillo and 10% Graciano is subtle, elegant, finessed and has a lifetime ahead of it.

The Gran Reserva 890 from the excellent 2010 vintage is ‘classicism in a bottle’. It ‘epitomises their style of reds with long aging in bottle’, explains Luis Guttierez of the Wine Advocate. The 2010 was recently given a perfect 100/100 in the 2024 edition of the Peñin Guide – the equivalent of the Platter’s Guide for Spain. According to the Peñín Guide, it ‘represents the greatness of the great Rioja classics in a superb vintage, with a background freshness that will allow it to grow with elegance and complexity’. It’s one of the wines ‘that put Spain on the map’. The 890 is dark-fruited and savoury, with an irresistible elegance and sense of balance.

Liv-ex reports that Spain 'has enjoyed increased demand on the secondary market for fine wine’. The number of Spanish wines trading on the exchange has increased 13-fold over the last decade, with La Rioja Alta leading the charge from the Rioja DOC.

‘La Rioja Alta has a long-standing reputation for producing some of the region’s best, most traditionally made wines, across the range,’ concludes Neal Martin. View the rest of their incredible range here.

Reply to this email or visit our website to place your order online.

Tasting notes

La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904 Selección Especial 2015

‘A perfumed nose of plums, mulberries, mushrooms, caramel, sweet tobacco and sweet spices. Full-bodied with velvety, fine tannins and lively acidity. Balanced and supple with a creamy texture. Delicate and precise with a long, polished finish.’ – James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, 97/100

La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 890 2010

‘They were eager to show me their 2010 Gran Reserva 890, their flagship wine from one of the most heralded vintages of recent times, the next vintage of this wine since 2005. It's 95% Tempranillo, 3% Graciano and 2% Mazuelo that fermented destemmed and crushed with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel vats for 18 days, the Tempranillo and Mazuelo together and the Graciano separately. After letting the wine settle for the winter, they selected the lots that would age for six years in used American oak barrels with 10 manual rackings. The wine epitomizes the classical style of Rioja Alta with long aging in barrel, developed and tertiary wines with a silky palate and a complex and decadent nose of forest floor, truffles, cigar ash and cedar wood. They need a very special selection of vineyards at higher altitude that take longer to ripen, and they don't do it fully every year. If they don't, the grapes go to Ardanza, but in 2010, the days were warm and the nights very cold and the grapes ripened thoroughly and could stand the long time in barrel without being oaky. They have stopped the last rackings to keep a little more freshness, and the wine feels phenomenal. This has to be one of the finest vintages for this wine. It's drinkable now but should also age for a very long time; it's intense, complex and elegant. A selection of 236 barrels were blended and bottled unfiltered in March 2017 into 61,643 bottles, 4,189 magnums and some larger formats. There will be a 2011 of this wine and then 2015 and possibly 2016 (but no 2012, 2013 or 2014). This is a very intense 890. Classicism in a bottle. – Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate, 97/100

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