La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904 2004 Magnum
SKU:
SGD 350.00
SGD 325.00
SGD 325.00
per item
Vintage: 2004
Producer: La Rioja Alta
Varietal: Tempranillo
Appellation: Rioja
Alcohol Content: 13.5%
Drinking Window: 2014-2025
Scores (if you care about): 97/100 James Suckling
96/100 RobertParker.com; 94/100 Vinous
Excellence runs in this historical family of Riojas.🏅🏆@lariojaaltasa
904 is an adaptation and a star successor of the original 1904 representing the year the winery came into being with the merger of La Rioja Alta & Ardanza Winery.
Rioja, from Northern Spain 🇪🇸 has a few sub-regions with Rioja Alta, the most famous. Known for wines of elegance, La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904 is a blend of 90% Tempranillo and 10% Graciano.
Gran Reservas by law must be aged for five years, at least two of those years in oak. La Rioja goes some considerable distance beyond this minimum by spending 4 yrs in barrels and another 5 in bottle before these are released.
Apart from their bottles, I personally find their passion to improve every aspect of wine making is unparalleled.
From spending heavily on R&D to modernise the wineries, to use of optical guided lasers for sorting berries to actually creating their own barrels, directly importing oak that is specially selected in the United States and naturally dried on the estate in Spain, its like the winery doesn't want to leave any opportunity to improve where they can.
As Dorothy J Gaiter, acclaimed journalist and wine writer for New York Times wrote, "Riojas in great years can take at least 15 years to hit their stride, becoming heavenly, structured wines of rich earth, cherry-raspberry-like fruit, hints of chocolate, vanilla and spice, taut acidity, and gracious tannins. The oak and fruit in full harmony. They are ready to drink when released but can stay in your cellar for years, if you can keep your hands off them."
Tasting Notes & Reviews
"This is a very complete wine with such beautiful length and intensity. It’s compact and very driven with a great finish and length. Dark berries, dried flowers, sandalwood and hints of dried fruit. Extremely long and balanced. Drink now." 97/100, James Suckling, Jul 2018
"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.
La Rioja Alta has tremendously improved its wines in the last few years while keeping faithful to the most classical style. They have always been hugely popular in Spain, but they seem to be selling their wines faster and don’t produce every cuvee in every vintage and as a result had very few new wines to show. Vina Ardanza jumped from 2001 to 2004, and the next vintage will be 2005. Followers of traditional Rioja are very lucky as both the 904 as the 890 coming on the market are from great vintages and are superb." 96/100 Luis Gutierrez, Roberparker.com
"(90% tempranillo and 10% graciano): Bright red. Heady aromas of dried red berries, cherry, smoked meat, vanilla and potpourri, with a spicy element gaining strength with air. Fleshy and seamless in texture, offering sappy red fruit and floral pastille flavors and an undertone of sweet vanilla. The spiciness comes back on the finish, which features suave floral and cherry-vanilla qualities and sneaky tannins. This classic, old-school Rioja is delicious now but is destined for a long, graceful evolution." 94/100, Josh Reynolds, Vinous 2014
904 is an adaptation and a star successor of the original 1904 representing the year the winery came into being with the merger of La Rioja Alta & Ardanza Winery.
Rioja, from Northern Spain 🇪🇸 has a few sub-regions with Rioja Alta, the most famous. Known for wines of elegance, La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904 is a blend of 90% Tempranillo and 10% Graciano.
Gran Reservas by law must be aged for five years, at least two of those years in oak. La Rioja goes some considerable distance beyond this minimum by spending 4 yrs in barrels and another 5 in bottle before these are released.
Apart from their bottles, I personally find their passion to improve every aspect of wine making is unparalleled.
From spending heavily on R&D to modernise the wineries, to use of optical guided lasers for sorting berries to actually creating their own barrels, directly importing oak that is specially selected in the United States and naturally dried on the estate in Spain, its like the winery doesn't want to leave any opportunity to improve where they can.
As Dorothy J Gaiter, acclaimed journalist and wine writer for New York Times wrote, "Riojas in great years can take at least 15 years to hit their stride, becoming heavenly, structured wines of rich earth, cherry-raspberry-like fruit, hints of chocolate, vanilla and spice, taut acidity, and gracious tannins. The oak and fruit in full harmony. They are ready to drink when released but can stay in your cellar for years, if you can keep your hands off them."
Tasting Notes & Reviews
"This is a very complete wine with such beautiful length and intensity. It’s compact and very driven with a great finish and length. Dark berries, dried flowers, sandalwood and hints of dried fruit. Extremely long and balanced. Drink now." 97/100, James Suckling, Jul 2018
"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.
La Rioja Alta has tremendously improved its wines in the last few years while keeping faithful to the most classical style. They have always been hugely popular in Spain, but they seem to be selling their wines faster and don’t produce every cuvee in every vintage and as a result had very few new wines to show. Vina Ardanza jumped from 2001 to 2004, and the next vintage will be 2005. Followers of traditional Rioja are very lucky as both the 904 as the 890 coming on the market are from great vintages and are superb." 96/100 Luis Gutierrez, Roberparker.com
"(90% tempranillo and 10% graciano): Bright red. Heady aromas of dried red berries, cherry, smoked meat, vanilla and potpourri, with a spicy element gaining strength with air. Fleshy and seamless in texture, offering sappy red fruit and floral pastille flavors and an undertone of sweet vanilla. The spiciness comes back on the finish, which features suave floral and cherry-vanilla qualities and sneaky tannins. This classic, old-school Rioja is delicious now but is destined for a long, graceful evolution." 94/100, Josh Reynolds, Vinous 2014