2010 La Rioja Alta "Viña Ardanza - Selección Especial" Reserva Rioja

The 2010 Viña Ardanza Selección Especial Rioja Reserva is an absolute blinder. The blend comprises 80% Tempranillo from the La Cuesta and Montecillo vineyards and 20% Grenache from the La Pedriza vineyard in Rioja Baja. It was picked mid-October, aged for 36 months in four-year-old American oak (six months less for the Grenache) and bottled in 2015. It was so highly regarded by the team at La Rioja Alta that they deemed it “Selección Especial” instead of “Reserva Especial.” The bouquet is like an old friend inviting you into their home. Crushed strawberry, leather and a touch of game are all beautifully defined, and after an hour the nose became increasingly Burgundy in style. That Burgundy theme translates across to a palate that is supremely well balanced and so harmonious that it was almost too easy to drink. There are hints of chestnut and shavings of black truffle on a finish that fans out gently. (NM)

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! (LG)

I was very excited to hear that another version of the Reserva Especial was being released. I loved the 2001, I still have a few bottles left in the cellar! Vina Ardanza is always great, it is the answer to the question, "what is a great affordable Rioja". This wine delivers on the promise of the special naming. The aromas move fruit fresh to dried fruit, lots of spice, earth, and oak. It makes me do one of my favorite things great wines do, catch you off guard that you have spent so much time with the glass up to your nose before it has ever touched your lips. the palate is rich and round with plenty of tannins but they have settled into the periphery of the wine. This wine shines. There are layers to this wine that keep unfurling the longer that it is opened. Ready tonight, but try to save a few bottles, this has long, long term cellar potential.