904 Rioja Gran Reserva 2011 with Gift Box

To the nose, the first impression is intense and complex, dominated by blackberry jam, raspberries and orange zest. Gradually, spicy and balsamanic notes of cigar box, cedar, liquorice, cloves, chocolate mints and toasted wood. Elegantly refined entry. Fresh and lively in the month, nicely balanced with polished, silky tannins and a gentle, delicate finish. Very long aftertaste, with citrus and balsamic notes.

La Rioja Alta continues to be one of the benchmarks for traditionally produced Rioja wine. Established in 1890 at the same spot where their head office sits today, their three Reserva Wine brands, Alberdi, Arana and Ardanza are named after the founding families, all three of which remain shareholders. The company still maintains traditional Rioja winemaking practices whilst embracing many of the new technological advances.

The grapes were collected in boxes and transported to the winery in refridgerated vehicles to preserve all their integrity. After destemming and light crushing. The grapes were put in tanks where they underwent alcoholic fermentation for 17 days. Batches were selected and allocated to complete malolactic fermentation naturally over 75 days. in June 2012, the wine was transferred to four and a half year old American oak barrels ,where it stayed until March 2015. During againg, the wine was racked eight times using traditional barrel-to-barrel methods.