La Rioja Alta Rioja Reserva Vina Ardanza 2004 750ml
Rated 94 by Wine Spectator
#22 Top 100, 2013. Cedar, tobacco and spice hints frame dried cherry, berry and vanilla notes in this silky red. The flavors mingle nicely, framed by juicy acidity and light but firm tannins. The wine has a lovely, weightless intensity. A fine example of the traditional style. Drink now through 2020.
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Rated 94 by James Suckling
Very fresh and floral with blackberry and blueberry character. Black truffle and sweet tobacco character. Full body, tight and tannic with lots of blue fruits. Just a baby. Beautiful now but will go on for years.
Rated 93 by Wine Advocate
The 2004 Vina Ardanza is a blend of 80% Tempranillo and 20% Garnacha from 30-year-old vines in Fuenmayor and Cenicero. It is aged for 36 months in four-year-old American oak. It has a very enticing bouquet with dark cherry, Christmas cake, dried fig and espresso with fine delineation and bags of exuberance. The palate is medium-bodied with taut tannins, underpinned by a keen citric thread that cuts through the licorice-tinged, dark berry and allspice-tinged fruit with style. It is simply delicious on the bittersweet finish. Drink now-2020+
Vivid ruby-red. Suave, spicy red fruit preserve and potpourri scents are complicated by notes of vanilla, licorice and mocha. Sappy, focused and energetic, offering sweet raspberry and cherry-cola flavors that are given lift by juicy acidity. Impressively pure and penetrating on the finish, which leaves floral pastille and smoky mineral notes behind.
Clean, bright dark-cherry red of medium depth with a pink rim. Notably expressive nose with spicy notes of coffee, chocolate, vanilla and cloves and fine wood aromas against a background of ripe dark fruit. It is a well- structured, balanced wine with a lively, enticing freshness that combines with polished tannins to fill the mouth with pleasurable sensations. Long aftertaste, marked by the subtlety of a brand whose traditional elegance, complexity and aromatic power are particularly enriched in this vintage.
An excellent wine to accompany charcoal-grilled meat, roasts, small game, medium-aged cheeses, Iberian cured sausages, etc.