La Rioja Alta Rioja Gran Reserva 904 2009 750ml

This is a driven and super tight Gran Reserva with dark berries and hints of spice and cedar. A spicy red-pepper undertone and some dried flowers. Full to medium body, integrated tannins and a superb finish. A great wine. Available in September 2018. A wine for the cellar, but why wait?

Time flies, and the 904 for sale is already the 2009 Gran Reserva 904, as they didn't bottle it in 2008. They are only going to bottle their top wines in very good and excellent vintages, so there will be a 2010 and 2011 but no 2012, 2013 or 2014. This super classical cuvée showcases the wines from Haro, silky and elegant after long aging in oak and a good future in bottle. 2009 was a powerful vintage, ripe but with good balance. The blend is approximately 90% Tempranillo and 10% Graciano, fermented in stainless steel with a 78-day natural malolactic. The aging was in four-year-old American oak barrels crafted by their own coopers; the wines aged from April 2010 until April 2014. During that time, the wine was racked every six months, to be finally bottled in November 2014. This is usually my favorite wine from the portfolio, where the balance between aging and youth reaches its highest point. It's developed but it keeps some fruit character, plenty of spices and balsamic aromas. The palate is polished but has some clout, with clean, focused flavors and a long, spicy and tasty finish. This represents good value for the quality it delivers. 150,000 bottles produced. Because they didn't produce 890 in 2009, the grapes for the 890 were in this 904. As a curiosity, they uncorked a 1982, which was superb.

Bright ruby. A hugely perfumed bouquet evokes red berry liqueur, candied cherry, coconut, potpourri, pipe tobacco and exotic spice aromas, all complemented by a smoky overtone. Alluringly sweet, broad and pliant on the palate, displaying a velvety texture to the plush raspberry, cherry cola, floral pastille and coconut flavors. Superb depth and no rough edges. Turns sweeter with air, finishing with outstanding clarity, a hint of mocha and velvety, harmonious tannins. While this wine is utterly delicious right now, I've no doubt that it'll be cruising along just fine in another 20 years or more. Aged in four-year-old American oak barrels for four years.

Tempranillo with 5% Graciano. So lovely with that inviting nose of aged but still perky wine, pulsing with fruit but with so much savoury complexity, like a room filled with oak furniture. A gorgeous satiny texture of ripe, polished, filigree tannins. Really so luxurious, but very fine and long.

This red shows a vibrant maturity, with tea and leather notes accenting red plum, orange peel and spice flavors in a round, polished texture. Bright acidity and well-integrated tannins give this structure. Graceful and expressive. Drink now through 2024. 12,500 cases made.

The delightful ruby red colour of this Gran Reserva is indicative of its long and careful cask ageing. The brilliance of the wine allows one to appreciate its deep colour -more intense than in previous vintages- that follows the bodega's philosophy of releasing onto the market, wines with greater structure. The aroma develops and intensifies the longer the bottle is open. It is a very round and complete wine, hard to describe for the complexity of its aromas. The high level of extract and balancing touch of glycerin give the wine a silkiness on the palate. Excellent length, with a robust finish and significant but refined tannins.