2010 Viña Ardanza Reserva, La Rioja Alta, Rioja, Spain

OVERVIEW

The flagship wine from La Rioja Alta is immense in any vintage but a standout in 2015. Garnering 96 Suckling points, this traditionally crafted Rioja is simply silky, delicious, long and complex. Just entering its drinking window, this wine will evolve nicely over the coming decade. Just incredible value for the price.

CRITIC REVIEWS

2010 was a great vintage in Rioja in general and seems to be exceptional here, with a 2010 Viña Ardanza Selección Especial (what used to be Reserva Especial) that can challenge any of the recent vintages and hopefully can develop in bottle to reach the heights of years like 1973 or 1964. The wine is expressive, aromatic, very elegant and clean, with classical Rioja aromas of long aging in barrel and slow oxidation through the years in wood. The palate is polished and sleek but shows plenty of energy, with very fine, mostly resolved tannins and very good harmony and persistence. There is great complexity, and you could start smelling spice and smoke to move to earthy tones, hints of beef blood, cherries in liqueur, curry, diesel, old furniture and forest floor. A great Viña Ardanza!” 95 Points. Wine Advocate

FOOD PAIRING INSPIRATION

This iconic Rioja Reserva will pair well with all meat dishes however prepared. A perfect partner for lamb, however it is prepared and meaty stews.

VINTAGE AND WINEMAKING

Considered an excellent vintage by the Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator and certainly the best of the last ten vintages. 

Made from a blend of Tempranillo (78%) and Garnacho (22%) from the famous 'La Pedriza' vineyard in Tudelilla. The wine is matured for six years and racked twice, aged in 140 year old casks plus further bottle ageing. The manual harvest started in mid-October and every berry was inspected. Alcoholic fermentation took place naturally and malolactic fermentation concluded at the end of the year. In March 2016, the chosen wines were put in barrels to start aging separately: the Tempranillo, for 36 months, with six manual rackings, in American oak barrels averaging 4 years in age; the Garnacha, for 30 months, with five manual rackings, in American oak barrels with two and three wines. The final blend was bottled in September 2019.

PRODUCER NOTES

The traditionally styled Riojas of La Rioja Alta are some of the finest and best value in the world. La Rioja Alta was founded in 1890 with their three Reserva wines all names after founding members, Alberdi, Arana and Ardanza. Like LdH, La Rioja Alta owns its own vineyards and can take the excellent quality and attention to detail from the winery also into the vineyards. 

The Gran Reservas, the 890 and 904 are considered two of the finest Riojas ever produced and are only created in exceptional vintages.

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SERVICE AND STORAGE TIPS

The wine will can be enjoyed today or held for several years.

This wine should be served at room temperature and stored around 12°C.

DELIVERY INFORMATION

Delivery is free when you spend over £150. For orders under this amount then a £9.99 delivery charge will be applied.

We use a tracked DPD delivery service who provide text and email tracking updates.

Every bottle sold by CoolerSomm is subject to our quality guarantee. If a wine is corked or faulty, we will replace it.

2010 Viña Ardanza Reserva, La Rioja Alta, Rioja, Spain