La Rioja Alta - Ardanza Reserva 2016
La Rioja Alta, SA is located in the La Rioja region of Spain . The estate was established in 1890 by five Riojan and Basque families. The original La Rioja Alta winery is based in Haro , but there is a second site in Labastida in the Rioja Alavesa which was built in 1996. In 1904, the Ardanza winery, owned by Don Alfredo Ardanza, joined La Rioja Alta. To commemorate the event, the Gran Reserva 904 was produced for the first time. Grupo La Rioja Alta also owns the Torre de Oña winery in the Alavesa sub-region of Rioja, Áster in Ribera del Duero and Lagar de Cervera in the Rias Baixas region of Galicia. The estate consists of approximately 660 hectares of vineyards around La Rioja. The winery located in Haro includes a cooperage, where barrels are made from American oak. Each barrel is racked by candlelight to naturally remove sediment and allow the team to monitor each barrel individually.
La Rioja Alta, SA is committed to the environment : limited treatments in the vineyards, investments in clean energy, water reuse, a solar farm, and the corks and boxes are also managed sustainably. Currently, 16 hectares are certified organic, and the goal is to increase this proportion. The board of directors also launched the Viña Ardanza Solidario program; 1% of the annual net profit (with a minimum of €100,000 per year) is allocated to humanitarian and philanthropic causes.
The Viña Ardanza Reserva 2016 is a blend of Tempranillo (80%) from the 30-year-old La Cuesta and Montecillo vineyards in Fuenmayor y Cenicero, and Garnacha (20%) from the La Pedriza vineyard in Tudelilla, Rioja Oriental. Alcoholic fermentation took place naturally. Malolactic fermentation was completed at the end of the year. In February 2017, the selected wines were transferred to barrels to begin aging separately : the Tempranillo for 36 months with six manual rackings into four-year-old American oak barrels, and the Garnacha for 30 months with five manual rackings into two- and three-wine American oak barrels. The final blend took place once barrel aging was complete. The wine was bottled in June 2020.
Grape varieties: 80% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha
