Classic Rioja, Modern Demand — La Rioja Alta

If you love classic Rioja with depth, elegance, and history, La Rioja Alta offers three standout wines — each with a unique style and place in the cellar.

Viña Ardanza Reserva is your gateway into the world of traditional Rioja. Blending Tempranillo with a meaningful portion of Garnacha, it delivers riper red fruit, sweet spice, and silky texture, with supple tannins and an inviting, immediately enjoyable profile. Ardanza is classic Rioja at its most versatile: delicious on release, yet capable of aging beautifully.

New to the lineup: Viña Ardanza Reserva Especial is a step up in selection and depth — a more limited, elevated expression of Ardanza with extra polish, complexity, and cellar-worthy structure.

Stepping up, Gran Reserva 904 is crafted for elegance and finesse. Predominantly Tempranillo with a touch of Graciano, it shows more lift and refinement than Ardanza, with layered notes of cherry, cedar, tobacco, and dried herbs, all wrapped in a beautifully balanced frame. It’s the perfect bottle when you want classic Rioja with extra precision and harmony.

At the pinnacle sits Gran Reserva 890, La Rioja Alta’s flagship. Produced only in top vintages, it’s the most profound, long-aged, and complex of the three — offering deeper structure, greater intensity, and a long, unfolding finish that rewards both patience and serious collectors.

The following are the wines remaining from the offer sent on Wednesday, January 28, 2026. Please enter your desired quantities and click the 'Add' button.

Producer	Vint.	Wine	Price	Qty	Order
		Spain
La Rioja Alta	2004	Gran Reserva 890 Rioja (3x1.5L) ETA 90-120 Days; No cancellations or returns. This item may be subject to tariffs.	$1,131.97	1
	WA 94+ (8/2016): The 2004 Gran Reserva 890 is the top of the range here, a wine that is only released three/four times per decade in exceptional years. They start by sourcing grapes from their oldest vineyards and going through a slow process of aging the wine in American oak barrels for six years, with ten manual rackings, and each time there is a selection of only the best barrels. The bottled wine is 13.5% alcohol with a remarkably low pH (3.0) that to me means 'quality' of the acidity, which is a healthy six grams per liter (in tartaric). The nose is all about forest floor aromas, game, cigar ash, incense, old furniture and some smoked meat. The palate shows what the technical data was hinting--very fresh with slightly dusty tannins and nice acidity. It's polished, but feels livelier than some older vintages. 38,000 numbered bottles.   VM 93 (11/2015): Vivid red. The nose displays an array of ripe red fruits, pungent flowers and exotic spices, with vanilla bean and coconut accents building with air. Sweet, broad and luscious, offering intense cherry-vanilla and raspberry liqueur flavors that deepen on the back half. Shows excellent depth as well as finesse, with velvety tannins adding shape to the very long, gripping finish. This suave, seamless Rioja spent six years in American oak barrels. Josh Raynolds.
	2005	Gran Reserva 890 Rioja (6x750ML) ETA 90-120 Days; No cancellations or returns. This item may be subject to tariffs.	$1,181.97	1
	JS 98 (1/2018): The aromas to this are stunning with dried strawberry, stone and fresh mushroom. Full body and very tight with incredible depth and structure. It goes on for minutes. One of the greatest ever? The new 1964?   WA 95 (6/2019): I tasted the 2005 Gran Reserva 890 again, and I liked it better this time than in my previous review, even if I normally like the Gran Reserva 904 better than this bottling, as I find it better balanced. I tend to feel less energy in this wine, as it spends a very long time in barrel, six years in this case. 2005 was an excellent vintage, and they implemented some improvements in the harvest, introducing 350-kilo boxes and refrigerated transport to the winery, which they think provides better grapes and potentially better quality of the wines. The palate is medium-bodied, the tannins have mostly melted, and it has lively acidity that lift the wine up. This is a very classical and polished Rioja. 57,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2012.
	2010	Gran Reserva 890 Rioja (6x750ML) ETA 90-120 Days; No cancellations or returns. This item may be subject to tariffs.	$1,321.99	5
	2011	Gran Reserva 890 Rioja (6x750ML) ETA 90-120 Days; No cancellations or returns. This item may be subject to tariffs.	$999.99	1
	2001	Gran Reserva 904 Rioja (6x750ML) ETA 90-120 Days; No cancellations or returns. This item may be subject to tariffs.	$1,090.97	1
	WA 96 (6/2010): The 2001 Gran Reserva 904 will not be released for another 3 years. Dark ruby-colored with a garnet rim, it displays a lovely nose of Asian spices, incense, tobacco, balsamic, and blackberry. On the palate it has exceptional depth, layers of spicy black fruit, excellent ripeness, and an elegant personality. Upon release it should continue to evolve for another 5-6 years and drink well through 2040.   VM 93 (10/2013): Deep ruby. Complex, highly perfumed scents of dark berry compote, cherry pit, pipe tobacco and vanilla. Smoky, sweet and focused, offering vibrant black raspberry, bitter cherry and vanilla bean flavors that gain power with air. This doesn't act like a 12-year-old wine! Finishes smooth and very long, with lingering sweetness and gentle, fine-grained tannins.
	2004	Gran Reserva 904 Rioja (6x750ML) ETA 90-120 Days; No cancellations or returns. This item may be subject to tariffs.	$800.97	1
	WA 96 (12/2013): The 2004 Gran Reserva 904 is Tempranillo from Brinas, Labastida and Villalba balanced with 10% Graciano from Briones and Rodezno. The grapes were fermented and macerated in inox vats for 14 days at 28º C, and malolactic fermentation lasted 28 days. The wine aged for 4 years in used American oak barrels averaging 4 years old, during which time it was manually racked 8 times. 150,000 bottles were filled. This 2004, from a superb vintage shows a beautiful light red color with a brick rim and a superb nose redolent of balsamic woods, spices, leather, well-hung meat, incense and truffles. The light to medium-bodied palate shows fully resolved tannins, great acidity and pure, pungent flavors that linger in the mouth forever and that can only be Rioja. This is a wine to smell over and over again. It might sound like an exaggeration, but this wine is still too young and you should wait a little bit and drink the superb 2001 vintage which should still be available on the market while this one matures in bottle. At this quality level the price is superb especially considering that the wine is being released 10 years after the vintage. Drink 2016-2024.
	2009	Gran Reserva 904 Rioja (6x750ML) ETA 90-120 Days; No cancellations or returns. This item may be subject to tariffs.	$549.97	2
	2010	Gran Reserva 904 Rioja (6x750ML) ETA 90-120 Days; No cancellations or returns. This item may be subject to tariffs.	$667.97	7
	WA 96+ (6/2019): It seems like yesterday when the superb 2001 was released, and now I already have the 2010 Gran Reserva 904 in my glass. It has to be among the greatest modern time vintages of this mythical bottling, where they aim for a wine that has a long aging potential. This is mostly Tempranillo with 10% Graciano and 13.5% alcohol, and it matured in fourth-used American oak barrels for four years, during which time the wine was racked every six months. It has the combination of elegance and power only the best vintages are capable of, with the classical aromas, great detail and nuance, very good balance and persistence. They consider 2010 among the best years of this century, and maybe future generations will talk about 2010 like we talk about the great classical vintages of yesterday today. The palate is polished but shows plenty of energy and tension, the tannins are very fine and elegant, and the flavors are focused and clean. This has to be one of the greatest wines from the vintage. A legend in the making. 150,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2015.
	2016	Gran Reserva 904 Rioja (6x750ML) ETA 90-120 Days; No cancellations or returns. This item may be subject to tariffs.	$574.99	10
	2016	Gran Reserva 904 Rioja (6x1.5L) ETA 90-120 Days; No cancellations or returns. This item may be subject to tariffs.	$1,169.98	5
	2007	Vina Ardanza Rioja Reserva (6x1.5L) ETA 90-120 Days; No cancellations or returns. This item may be subject to tariffs.	$820.97	2
	VM 92 (11/2015): Brilliant red. Lively, oak-spiced raspberry and cherry scents are complemented by candied rose and vanilla, with a smoky mineral topnote providing added lift. Sappy and seamless on the palate, offering juicy red fruit, mocha and coconut flavors plus a suggestion of sweet chewing tobacco. In a graceful, approachable style, finishing with strong, thrust and silky, late-arriving tannins. While this suave Rioja is quite enjoyable now, I'd give it some more time in the cellar so that the American oak is able to integrate with the wine's fruit. Josh Raynolds.
	2007	Vina Ardanza Rioja Reserva (12x750ML) ETA 90-120 Days; No cancellations or returns. This item may be subject to tariffs.	$864.97	1
	VM 92 (11/2015): Brilliant red. Lively, oak-spiced raspberry and cherry scents are complemented by candied rose and vanilla, with a smoky mineral topnote providing added lift. Sappy and seamless on the palate, offering juicy red fruit, mocha and coconut flavors plus a suggestion of sweet chewing tobacco. In a graceful, approachable style, finishing with strong, thrust and silky, late-arriving tannins. While this suave Rioja is quite enjoyable now, I'd give it some more time in the cellar so that the American oak is able to integrate with the wine's fruit. Josh Raynolds.
	2009	Vina Ardanza Rioja Reserva (6x1.5L) ETA 90-120 Days; No cancellations or returns. This item may be subject to tariffs.	$612.98	1
	2015	Vina Ardanza Rioja Reserva (12x750ML) ETA 90-120 Days; No cancellations or returns. This item may be subject to tariffs.	$519.99	22
	WA 94 (7/2022): I tasted two vintages of their sleek and polished blend of Tempranillo and Garnacha, the oldest of which is the 2015 Viña Ardanza Reserva. It's a blend of 78% Tempranillo and 22% Garnacha (because they found that they needed a little more volume in the wine) from a powerful, warm and ripe year, very interesting to compare with the 2016. They consider 2015 a very good vintage; they compare it with 2001, a year when they produced all the wines. There are three wines from 2015, and there is something in common in all thee wines. The grapes were picked in mid-October and put through optical sorting to ferment followed by malolactic until the end of the year. The wine matured in used American oak barrels—the Tempranillo for 36 months with six manual rackings and the Garnacha for 30 months with five rackings. I find it to be more tertiary, with hints of leather and cured meat and a little wild, very spicy. It has a powerful palate with plenty of tannin, and it even feels that it needs some more polishing of perhaps powerful food.   VM 94 (4/2021): Deep magenta. An intensely perfumed bouquet evokes ripe black raspberry, cherry cola, potpourri, tobacco and exotic spices, plus a smoky mineral flourish. Sweet and broad in the mouth, offering lush red and blue fruit, spicecake, mocha and coconut flavors that firm up on the back half. Finishes extremely long and spicy, with resonating florality, gently chewy tannins and lingering oak spice notes. (Drink between 2024-2034). Josh Raynolds.
	2016	Vina Ardanza Rioja Reserva (6x750ML) ETA 90-120 Days; No cancellations or returns. This item may be subject to tariffs.	$262.99	60
	WA 94+ (7/2022): The 2016 Viña Ardanza Reserva was produced with 80% Tempranillo and 20% Garnacha that matured in used American oak barrels for three years, where it was hand-racked from barrel to barrel six times in the case of Tempranillo and five times for the Garnacha, as it had a slightly shorter élevage of 30 months. Against all odds, I found the 2016 to be fresher than the 2015 and less developed, despite the fact that winemaker Julio Sáenz told me he considers it a warmer year. But I have found many wines I like in 2016, and the wine feels very clean and quite harmonious, younger and less developed, with more primary notes and a velvety mouthfeel. 600,000 bottles produced. The wine was bottled in June 2020.
	2019	Vina Ardanza Rioja Reserva (6x750ML) ETA 90-120 Days; No cancellations or returns. This item may be subject to tariffs.	$274.99	7
	2010	Vina Ardanza Rioja Reserva Especial (6x1.5L) ETA 90-120 Days; No cancellations or returns. This item may be subject to tariffs.	$771.98	3
	VM 96 (9/2020): The 2010 Viña Ardanza Selección Especial Rioja Reserva is an absolute blinder. The blend comprises 80% Tempranillo from the La Cuesta and Montecillo vineyards and 20% Grenache from the La Pedriza vineyard in Rioja Baja. It was picked mid-October, aged for 36 months in four-year-old American oak (six months less for the Grenache) and bottled in 2015. It was so highly regarded by the team at La Rioja Alta that they deemed it “Selección Especial” instead of “Reserva Especial.” The bouquet is like an old friend inviting you into their home. Crushed strawberry, leather and a touch of game are all beautifully defined, and after an hour the nose became increasingly Burgundy in style. That Burgundy theme translates across to a palate that is supremely well balanced and so harmonious that it was almost too easy to drink. There are hints of chestnut and shavings of black truffle on a finish that fans out gently. Neal Martin.
	2010	Vina Ardanza Rioja Reserva Especial (3.0 L) ETA 90-120 Days; No cancellations or returns. This item may be subject to tariffs.	$351.98	1
	VM 96 (9/2020): The 2010 Viña Ardanza Selección Especial Rioja Reserva is an absolute blinder. The blend comprises 80% Tempranillo from the La Cuesta and Montecillo vineyards and 20% Grenache from the La Pedriza vineyard in Rioja Baja. It was picked mid-October, aged for 36 months in four-year-old American oak (six months less for the Grenache) and bottled in 2015. It was so highly regarded by the team at La Rioja Alta that they deemed it “Selección Especial” instead of “Reserva Especial.” The bouquet is like an old friend inviting you into their home. Crushed strawberry, leather and a touch of game are all beautifully defined, and after an hour the nose became increasingly Burgundy in style. That Burgundy theme translates across to a palate that is supremely well balanced and so harmonious that it was almost too easy to drink. There are hints of chestnut and shavings of black truffle on a finish that fans out gently. Neal Martin.
	2010	Vina Ardanza Rioja Reserva Especial (12x750ML) ETA 90-120 Days; No cancellations or returns. This item may be subject to tariffs.	$754.97	1
	VM 96 (9/2020): The 2010 Viña Ardanza Selección Especial Rioja Reserva is an absolute blinder. The blend comprises 80% Tempranillo from the La Cuesta and Montecillo vineyards and 20% Grenache from the La Pedriza vineyard in Rioja Baja. It was picked mid-October, aged for 36 months in four-year-old American oak (six months less for the Grenache) and bottled in 2015. It was so highly regarded by the team at La Rioja Alta that they deemed it “Selección Especial” instead of “Reserva Especial.” The bouquet is like an old friend inviting you into their home. Crushed strawberry, leather and a touch of game are all beautifully defined, and after an hour the nose became increasingly Burgundy in style. That Burgundy theme translates across to a palate that is supremely well balanced and so harmonious that it was almost too easy to drink. There are hints of chestnut and shavings of black truffle on a finish that fans out gently. Neal Martin.
	2011	Gran Reserva 890 Rioja (6x1.5L)	$2,730.98		Sold Out
	2005	Gran Reserva 904 Rioja (6x750ML)	$623.97		Sold Out
	2010	Gran Reserva 904 Rioja (6x1.5L)	$1,230.98		Sold Out
	2011	Gran Reserva 904 Rioja (6x750ML)	$436.97		Sold Out
	2015	Gran Reserva 904 Rioja (6x750ML)	$614.99		Sold Out