La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 890 2011

Drink now or cellar for up to 24 years. Decant 1 hour before serving. One of Rioja’s finest producers for traditional-style reds, the story of La Rioja Alta begins back in 1890 when five local winemaking families decided to join forces to start exporting their quality-driven wines beyond the Spanish borders. The new winery was located right by the Haro train station which enabled them to quickly expand their sales into neighbouring France. Today the estate has grown to 300 hectares of vineyards spread across the Rioja Alta region, but still retains that early commitment to excellence and celebrating local winemaking traditions. Their Gran Reserva 890 is La Rioja Alta’s flagship wine and commemorates the foundation date of the winery. The cuvee is predominantly Tempranillo from estate vineyards in Briñas, Villalba, and Labastida, along with a tiny drop of Mazuelo and Graciano. Grapes for this bottling are carefully selected in the vineyard in small refrigerated boxes and carefully vinified in temperature-controlled tanks. The winemakers then select only the best of the young wines to be aged for 6 years in American oak barrels which La Rioja Alta makes themselves in their own cooperage. The final blend is then chosen and the wine is bottled ready for release. This painstaking attention to detail and extensive maturation helps to produce an immensely ageworthy Rioja with firm tannins, a robust structure and intense layers of luscious dark fruit, spices, baked earth and leather. Ideal for cellaring for another decade or two, although it can also be enjoyed now with hearty red meat dishes.