B-21 Top Recommendation
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Ranked among the upper echelon of Rioja's traditional-style producers, La Rioja Alta's outstanding 96 pt. 2015 Vina Ardanza Reserva punches well above its weight, offering powerful aromatics and fresh layered fruit, finishing long with hints of mineral and spice, an overachieving, ageworthy Spanish red that delivers stunning value.
As one of the oldest wineries in Spain, La Rioja Alta was founded over a century ago by five enterprising families who seized the opportunity to fill the gap in the market for complex, well-structured red wines created by the phylloxera crisis in France, setting up shop in the Barrio de la Estación district of Haro to ensure fast and efficient exporting via train. Founded as the Sociedad Vinicola de La Rioja Alta, the winery merged with Bodegas Ardanza in 1904, acquiring some of its top vineyards in Rioja Alta and later releasing its flagship Vina Ardanza in recognition of founder Don Ardanza's contribution to the estate. Now encompassing nearly 400 hectares, La Rioja Alta's acquisition of its own estate parcels over the years has allowed them to take a more modern approach of focusing on the individual attributes of each vineyards, sourcing the Tempranillo for the 2015 Vina Ardanza from decade's old parcels on the estate's organically farmed Cuesta and Montecillo vineyards, while utilizing Garnacha from its rugged, low yielding La Pedriza vineyard, perched at an altitude of 550 meters above sea level in Rioja Oriental. Produced only in top vintages from the best quality grapes, the varietals for the 2015 Vina Ardanza Reserva were aged separately for up to 36 months in used American oak barrels averaging four years of age, custom crafted at their onsite cooperage, with the final blend aging three more years in bottle before release, yielding luscious red fruit hinting of toasty oak, spice, and vanilla with elegant, polished tannins.
Maintaining its "long-standing reputation for producing some of the region's best, most traditionally made wines," according to Josh Raynolds of Vinous, La Rioja Alta's powerful and opulent 96 pt. 2015 Vina Ardanza ranks among Spain's top reserve Riojas, a long-lived red expertly aged for immediate enjoyment from an iconic producer – simply put, a superb bargain. | 
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