La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904 Rioja 2015  £74.04

La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904 2015

Rioja Alta 904 Gran Reserva is a marvellous red wine made by Bodega La Rioja Alta in the D.O. Rioja.
It's a blend of Tempranillo (90%) from vineyards over 40 years old situated in the towns of Briñas, Labastida and Villalba, and Graciano (10%) planted in the winery's vineyards in Briones and Rodezno. The harvest is carried out by hand and the grapes go through a rigorous selection process. After the alcoholic and malolactic fermentation, Rioja Alta 904 Gran Reserva ages for 4 years in American oak barrels made in the winery's cooperage. Every 6 months the wine is racked barrel by barrel according to the traditional method. Rioja Alta 904 Gran Reserva is an excellent wine and vintage being one of the best examples of long ageing in the Rioja

An excellent vintage in Rioja. With a mild autumn and a cold and rainy winter, the growth season began with enough resources for the perfect development of the vines. During this period, there were no pests and diseases until the end of the growth cycle. During the harvest, there were no significant rains, so the health and ripening of the grapes were excellent. A great year with great aged wines that can be stored for a long time. The perfect balance between the most amiable tannins and the good acidity, which give these wines an extraordinary length.

95 Points Robert Parker

They used the words subtlety, elegance, finesse, delicacy and silk to define the 2015 Gran Reserva 904 Selección Especial, a blend of 90% Tempranillo from their vineyards in Villalba, Briñas and Rodezno with 10% Graciano from the Montecillo vineyard in Fuenmayor that was picked 23 days later than the Tempranillo. The grapes were sorted optically for the first time, and they fermented in stainless steel where the wine went through malolactic too. The wine was put in barrel in January 2016—used American oak barrels built by their own coopers—where it matured for four years, during which time it was racked every six months. 2015 was a healthy vintage with balanced ripeness that delivered wines with good aging potential. They thought the wine needed a little more time in bottle to polish those tannins and have decided to hold it and release the wine around March 2023; it will be marked Selección Especial, the first 904 to do so, as they have very high hopes for this year and believe it's one of the finest vintages. They think it will develop the sophistication in the palate with a little more time and that is should achieve the silkiness that is the signature of 904. This is very 2015; I saw quite strong tannins in all the 2015 wines I tasted from Rioja Alta. There are some 150,000 bottles of this.

Luis Gutiérrez