Tasting Note for the 2001 La Rioja Alta Vina Ardanza Reserva Especial

La Rioja Alta is one of Rioja's most traditional and consistent traditional producers. It was established back in 1890 by five vine growers. La Rioja Alta is now listed on the stock exchange but the majority is still controlled by the five founding families.

The Vina Ardanza bottlig was first produced in 1942. Originally it was aged for 42 months in oak barrels, but this is now cut down to 36 months. The 2001 vintage is classified as "Reserva Especial" a labeling only wines from the best vintages gets. This was only the third time the Vina Ardanza got labeled Especial, the other vintages being 1964 and 1973.

Tasting Note for the 2001 La Rioja Alta Vina Ardanza Reserva Especial

Dark fruit, some oak and dirt and some cigar box on the nose. On the palate it shows a good body and consistency. I get leather, dark fruit, integrated oak and leather. There is also some red fruit here offering some sourness balancing this wine out. The finish is long with some dirt showing up and at the end I get a strond floral component which is very good. 92 points

If you want old world wines that are reasonable priced Rioja is a great place to start. There are some producers here that offer great entry level wines at very good price points. My favourite producers in this category are Lopez de Heredia, Marques de Murrietta and La Rioja Alta.


For more on this wine check out:
Wine-Searcher
K&L Wines
Ny Times