Wine Advisor
La Rioja Alta, Gran Reserva 904 2005
View analysis
Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez
The 2005 Gran Reserva 904 is a superb blend of Tempranillo from the villages of Briñas, Labastida and Villalba with 10% Graciano from Briones and Rodezno. The grapes were destemmed and crushed and fermented in stainless steel for 18 days at 25 C. Malolactic fermentation was spontaneous and lasted 38 days. These wines are marked by a long aging in used American oak barrels following the most strict Riojan tradition; four years during which time the wine was manually racked eight times. This is usually my favorite wine from La Rioja Alta and 2005 is one of its best showings, going back to the quality of the vintages of the 1950s and 60s. The nose is very balsamic with notes of camphor, hints of mint, leather and hung game wrapped around a core of cherries in liqueur. Together it is balanced, subtle, truly elegant and classical. The palate is only medium-bodied but with great concentration of flavors that are very tasty, mineral, almost salty and framed by ultra-fine tannins and smashing balance. A great classic. This wine will be released in October 2015, a full ten years after the vintage. At this quality level this is a bargain. 150,000 bottles produced.
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Bright ruby-red. Complex, intensely perfumed bouquet of candied cherry, vanilla, mocha, cured tobacco and spicecake, with a suave potpourri note becoming stronger in the glass. Offers sweet, penetrating cherry-cola and lavender pastille flavors complicated by hints of smoky minerals and candied licorice. The long, subtly tannic finish delivers noteworthy energy and focus, leaving suave spicecake and cherry liqueur notes behind.
About the Producer
La Rioja Alta S.A. is located in the Rioja wine region of Spain. Rioja is the earliest and largest high-quality wine producing area in Spain. It has the reputation of "Spain Bordeaux" and has many Spanish boutique wineries. This winery is one of the best representatives. The winery is now part of Grupo La Rioja Alta S.A. With the popularity of European wines and American wines, various wine exhibitions and wine critic competitions have become popular internationally, and Oak River Winery has also participated and achieved quite good results. In 1893, the winery won the gold medal at the Chicago Columbus Wine Show; in 1895, the winery won the silver medal at the Bordeaux World Wine Show; in 1910 and 1911, it won the Buenos Aires and Toulouse Wine Show Awards. But after winning a gold medal at the Latin American Wine Show in 1930, the winery announced that it would no longer participate in any wine shows or wine critic competitions, because they no longer needed to make wine for any awards, they needed to make real wine. Although it did not win international awards, its good reputation continued to spread. In the following 10 years, the winery has become famous and quickly became the top wine in Rioja, Spain. One of the Spanish wine brands.
