La Rioja Alta is a very traditional Rioja winery, founded in 1890 in Haro at the heart of the Rioja region. The winery focuses on making red wines, mostly from Tempranillo with some Mazuelo and Graciano used, while Garnacha is also grown fro use in making their Vina Ardanza. Unusually for a Bodega of its size La Rioja Alta owns its own vineyards, some 360ha, from which they can select the best fruit to make rich and flavoursome wines. In 1904 La Rioja Alta merged with Bodega Ardanza and this wine was produced to commemorate this milestone for the winery.
"I tasted again 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 that I had already tasted in mid-2022 before the wine was released. Time in bottle has done it some good, polishing the strong tannins that are the signature from 2015, though they are still not fully resolved, and a few more years in bottle will do it good. It's tasty, very classical, balanced and fresh. Impressive for such a powerful year. It was bottled in March 2020 after it matured in used American oak barrels for four years."
- 95/100 pts Luis Gutiérrez, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
