La Rioja Alta, S.A.
Avda. Vizcaya, 8 26200 Haro Region: La Rioja District: D.O. ca Rioja Phone: +34 941 310346 Fax: +34 941 312854 Internet: www.riojalta.com
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The estate is located in the city of Haro at the centre of the Rioja Alta sub-region in Rioja in Spain. It was founded in 1890 by a group of five families that were on friendly terms. The start was made with the assistance of French oenologist Alfonso Vigier. To start with, 33 large oak vats as well as 3.500 barriques from Bordeaux were available. Then, at around the turn of the century, phylloxera crossed the Pyrenees and devastated most of the vines. The necessary use of grafted vines, the change to bottling the own wines, as a concentration on exports to overseas marked the beginning of the successful era of the estate. The company was changed to a share-holding structure in 1941, with descendants of some of the founding families still on the board of directors today. A new cellar was built in a neighbouring town in 1996. The vineyard area totals 450 hectares in the communes of Briones, Cenicero, Fuenmayor, Labastida and Rodezno. Additional grapes are also bought in. The Rioja wines here are produced in traditional style, and are among the best in the region. The wines are made with a relatively short period of only two weeks on the skins, followed by an exceptionally long maturation period in barrel and in bottle. The cellar holds more than 50.000 barriques of mainly American oak for maturation. The flagship wine is the „Gran Reserva 890�, with the 890 referring to the founding year. This top wine is very carefully made, and has a long maturation potential; it is made only in the best vintages. It is made from a minimum of 85% Tempranillo, with Graciano and Mazuelo added to the blend. It is then matured in barriques for 6 to 8 years, followed by a further 6 years in bottle, so that it is 12 to 14 years old when released for sale. The second top product is the „Gran Reserva 904� (produced for the first time in 1904). This is also made from a minimum of 85% Tempranillo, blended with Graciano and Mazuelo. It is matured in barrel for a minimum of four years, followed by four years in bottle. Other brands produced are „Viña Alberdi� (90% Tempranillo, Mazuelo), „Viña Arana Reserva� (90% Tempranillo, Graciano), „Viña Ardanza Reserva� (75% Tempranillo, Garnacha Tinta). Around a quarter of the production is exported. The company also owns another three wine estates: Aster (95 ha, Ribera del Duero), Lagar de Fornelos (76 ha, Rías Baixas) and Torre de Oña (Rioja Alavesa).

The vintage 2008
Unfortunately, no wines have been submitted for several years now, so that we are unable to form a meaningful opinion on the current performance of this producer. For this reason, we see no option but to suspend the classification until further notice.
The vintage 2000
D.O. ca Rioja
Red wine, Reserva, Viña Alberdi, D.O. ca Rioja
	Full description	Request-Form	Very good (84)
The vintage 1999
D.O. ca Rioja
Red wine, Reserva, Viña Ardanza, D.O. ca Rioja
	Full description	Request-Form	Excellent (87+)
Red wine, Reserva, Viña Alberdi, D.O. ca Rioja
	Full description	Request-Form	Excellent (86)
The vintage 1998
D.O. ca Rioja
Red wine, Reserva, Viña Arana, D.O. ca Rioja
	Full description	Request-Form	Excellent (87)
Red wine, Reserva, Viña Ardanza, D.O. ca Rioja
	Full description	Request-Form	Excellent (86)
The vintage 1997
D.O. ca Rioja
Red wine, Reserva, Viña Arana, D.O. ca Rioja
	Full description	Request-Form	Excellent (85)
The vintage 1996
D.O. ca Rioja
Red wine, Reserva, Viña Arana, D.O. ca Rioja
	Full description	Request-Form	Excellent (87)
The vintage 1995
D.O. ca Rioja
Red wine, Gran Reserva, 904, D.O. ca Rioja
	Full description	Request-Form	Outstanding (90)
The vintage 1994
D.O. ca Rioja
Red wine, Gran Reserva, 890, D.O. ca Rioja
	Full description	Request-Form	Outstanding (92+)
Red wine, Gran Reserva, 904, D.O. ca Rioja
	Full description	Request-Form	Outstanding (90)
The vintage 1989
D.O. ca Rioja
Red wine, Gran Reserva, 890, D.O. ca Rioja
	Full description	Request-Form	Outstanding (91)