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Viinin Kuvailu
The Story
This Gran Reserva is only made with the best quality fruit, painstakingly selected by hand. The wine is aged in American oak barrels for six years and racked twice annually. The nose is reminiscent of tobacco, spice-box and red berry fruit with the characteristic creaminess and vanilla character elegantly integrated. The palate is firm but the tannins are silky and the acidity is lively, ensuring that the wine will endure for some years to come.
The Domaine
La Rioja Alta continues to be one of the benchmarks for traditionally produced Rioja wine. Established in 1890 at the same spot where their head office sits today, their three Reserva Wine brands, Alberdi, Arana and Ardanza are named after the founding families, all three of which remain shareholders. The company still maintains traditional Rioja winemaking practices whilst embracing many of the new technological advances.
It is unusual for a great bodega of Rioja to own vineyards, but La Rioja Alta own 360ha from which they can source top-quality grapes, resulting in excellent fruit and richness throughout their wines. Tempranillo dominates the plantings, complemented with a small proportion of Garnacha and Graciano vines.
The company is renowned for the quality of its Reservas and in particular for its Gran Reservas, the 904 and the 890. The latter are produced only in exceptional years, are amongst the finest wines being produced in Rioja today.
Wine Information
La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 890
On the 10th of July 1890, five Basque and Riojan wine growers started a wine-producing company called La Rioja Alta, in a part of the town of Haro known as the "Barrio de la Estación". The present shareholders, directors and some employees are descendants of the five families who founded the bodega. The bodega was situated in Vicuana, the celebrated station quarter of Haro. The land was the private property of the Puig de la Abbellacasa and Ardanza families and rented to the company. It was not until 1924 that the company obtained full possession of the land it occupied. The founding of the bodega was not the only important event to occur in Haro in 1890. That same year electric lighting was installed for the first time in Spain, in Haro and in Jerez. For that reason, and for others rather less refined, the saying "Haro, Paris and London" became popular among local wits to describe the Wonders of the World. Another popular expression of the time, still remembered nowadays as we approach the city, was "Ya llegamos a Haro, que se ven las luces" ("We coming to Haro, you can see the lights"). In the past, the only trade name marketed was the present Reserva 890. For many years, in commemoration of the year of its foundation, it was called Reserva 1890, but legal requirements made it necessary to drop the first figure. This also happened later with the Reserva 1904. It would seem that, at a time when the year of production was not legally required on the label, a trade name like this caused some confusion for the wine taster especially regarding the vintage.
The traditional well-made red Rioja, Gran Reserva 890, is made mainly from Tempranillo (85%) with small quantities of Graciano and Mazuelo. This elegant, velvety wine spends 8 years in cask and 6 years in bottle. Gran Reserva 890 is only made in good vintages after a strict selection of the grapes. All the bottles are numbered.