Decanter 96
Beautiful nose coconut cream, vanilla and mocha nose. Smooth and mellow on the rich and velvety palate with lots of sweet spices, dates and chocolate-covered currants. Long-lasting and utterly delicious.

James Suckling 95
"Aromas of dark plum, raspberry, mocha, mushroom, chocolate, mocha, coconut and cigar box. Full-bodied with ripe, fine tannins and bright acidity. Balanced and supple with a velvety texture. Coffee notes on the long, succulent finish. 95% tempranillo and 5% graciano. Drink or hold."

Vinous Media 94
"Brilliant ruby. Energetic, spice- and smoke-accented black raspberry and candied cherry aromas are complemented by suggestions of rose oil, coconut and cured tobacco. Youthfully chewy and focused on entry, offering concentrated red and dark berry, cherry cola and candied licorice flavors that deepen steadily with air. Floral pastille and oak spice notes linger on the impressively long, smoke-tinged finish, which shows excellent clarity and polished tannins. - By Josh Raynolds on April 2021"

Wine Advocate 92
"The 2015 Via Arana Gran Reserva, which was a Reserva until 2011, wants to showcase a new Gran Reserva style that combines freshness and joy with intensity, sophistication and aging potential through a blend of Tempranillo from Rodezno with 5% Graciano from Fuenmayor. The grapes were put through optical sorting and fermented in stainless steel for 19 days, and the wine matured in American oak barrels for three years with rackings every six months. This is the classical Haro style of Rioja Claret. They found that some special vintages of this wine behaved like a Gran Reserva, with a style that was closer to their 904. So, they wanted to make this consistent from vintage to vintage, a new a style of Gran Reserva, easier to understand than the 904 or 890. From 2012, the wine changes and they replaced the Mazuelo that was used in the past with Graciano, which they think is a grape very apt for Gran Reserva wines. I saw the wine with the 2015 vintage, a more developed nose with tertiary notes and some funkiness. They don't want this to be the small brother of 904. It's the entry level for Gran Reserva wines, for a younger generation; it's fresher and less complex but with good aging potential. In a year when they don't produce 904, the grapes would go to Via Arana. The palate reveals quite a lot of tannin and a dry finish. 80,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in December 2019."

The Wine
The basic grape variety is Tempranillo (95) with 5 Mazuelo from the El Palo and Las Monjas vineyards in Rodezno. Estate-owned vineyards planted on loamy soils in 1973.

The grapes arrived at the winery perfectly ripe. Alcoholic fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks for 15 days at a controlled temperature below 28 C. After careful racking, malolactic fermentation took place naturally over 75 days. In June 2010, selected batches of this blend were transferred to American oak barrels (made in-house) with an average age of 4.5 years. During the three years the wine was aged, it was racked every 6 months using traditional barrel-to-barrel methods. It was bottled in June 2013.

Vintage
This vintage stands out for the high grape quality coupled with moderate production. Suitable weather during the final phase of the growing cycle was a key factor in the final quality of this vintage. Our vineyards are treated with rational viticulture and produce low yields per hectare. This resulted in grapes in optimum condition, allowing for very well-balanced colour, acidity and alcohol. The Rioja Control Board gave this vintage an official rating of 'Very Good'.

Vineyards
The basic grape variety is Tempranillo (95) with 5 Mazuelo from the El Palo and Las Monjas vineyards in Rodezno.

Winemaking and ageing
Alcoholic fermentation lasted 14 days at controlled temperatures. Malolactic fermentation occurred naturally and took 65 days. The wines were then put in American oak barrels manufactured in-house with an average age of 3 years. During the wine's three years' ageing, it was racked every 6 months using traditional barrel-to-barrel methods. It was bottled in July 2013.

Tasting
Medium-depth, dark-cherry red with incipient orange hues. High aromatic intensity, with notes of vanilla, caramel, toffee and cinnamon from the wood against a background of fruits in liqueur. Good structure in the mouth, with a pleasant acidity and fine tannins. A wine with an expansive aftertaste re-emphasising its seductive acidity and noble flavours derived from barrel ageing.

The Estate
The Bodega was formed in 1890 as a partnership of 5 quality-conscious growers keen to exploit the export potential for well-made, modern Rioja. At this time, French vineyards were ravaged by phylloxera, and connoisseurs were having to look elsewhere for supplies of fine wine. Rioja, with its excellent climate and soils, had already attracted attention, and experiments with Bordeaux-style vinification and barrique-aging were proving very successful. The regions only real disadvantage was its remoteness, cut off from the lucrative markets to the north by the same mountains that ensured its favorable climate. This problem was solved by construction of the rail link to Bilbao, and it is no coincidence that Bodegas La Rioja Alta was established next to the Haro railway station in the same year it opened.

In 1904, La Rioja Alta absorbed Bodegas Ardanza, and gained access to some of the finest vineyards in the Rioja Alta district. The luxury 904 bottling commemorates this important milestone in the companys development. Since then Rioja has seen more bad times than good, and many producers have harmed the reputation of the region and its production methods, releasing sloppily-aged wines which were never good enough to support a long time in cask. But La Rioja Alta has never let standards slip, and continues to this day the tradition of careful long-aging that gives Rioja its unique character. These wines offer a wonderfully complex bouquet, rich flavours, a seductively smooth texture, and are all ready to drink on release.

Farming Practice: Practicing Organic