Jamessuckling.com | JS 93
Published: Oct 14, 2021

A pretty nose of raspberries, cassis, fresh herbs, vanilla and sweet spices. It’s medium-bodied with round tannins. Creamy and fruity with chocolatey character on the mid-palate. Supple finish with excellent length. Tangy acidity. 100% tempranillo. Drink or hold.

The Wine Advocate | RP 92
Published: Jul 14, 2022

Their young and fresh red 2018 Viña Alberdi, already a Reserva (Crianza in Spain), matured in oak barrel for two years—in new barrels for the first year and in used barrels for the second year. During the élevage, they racked the wine manually from barrel to barrel four times. 2018 was a year of lower alcohol and more freshness in the wines, and they thought the wines were not designed for the long haul; so, they didn't produce any other wine, and so the only wine from 2018 IS VIÑA ALBERDI! Which means that all the Tempranillo grapes that were destined for 890, 904 and all the other wines went to this wine. They didn't use the Garnacha (which was sold in bulk). So, this is a super- Viña Alberdi, which shows more Crianza style in this cooler vintage but with very good depth and complexity, perhaps a more modern and fresher style. The wine has a seamless palate and a juicy texture, with more color than other vintages, more intensity, more fruit... It has grapes from very good vineyards and poor soils that were never destined for this wine. Highly recommendable and very versatile. It has potential to age. They produced a whopping one million bottles of it. It was bottled in March 2021.

Drink Date: 2022-2028

The people from La Rioja Alta are looking for older vineyards in the Rioja Alta zone, mostly around Elvillar, in principle for the sister project Torre de Oña. As they think they have done all the technical improvements possible, they believe the improvement has to come from the vineyards, so they are experimenting in that direction. In those vineyards, there is more white interplanted with the red. And they are also experimenting with white wine...

As for what's currently released, I loved the 2010 Gran Reserva 890, a wine that to me epitomizes their style of reds with a long aging in barrel and in bottle. I found the wines from 2015 to be very tannic, a little rough even; they are very confident about the vintage, which they consider one of the best together with 2001, but the wines might need more time.

Riojalta.com

Bright, deep ruby colour with dark cherry hues on the rim of the glass. It stands out for its intensity, with red fruit aromas (strawberries, raspberries, redcurrant and cherry) leading to elegant notes of vanilla, toffee, coffee cream, cinnamon, brioche and hazelnuts. The balance between acidity and alcohol stands out on the palate, with soft, sweet, rounded tannins and a pleasant final sensation. 

Harvest
Abundant rainfall in winter and spring meant that the vineyards were in excellent condition in the first months of the growing season. The ripening stage progressed smoothly, with good quality parameters.
This year’s harvest was characterised by the painstaking selection of grapes both in the vineyard and in the winery. Overall, the wines stand out for their lower alcohol content compared to previous years, the finesse of the reds, with intense and lively colours, as well as their balance on the palate.

Vineyard, grapes and ageing 100% Tempranillo from our Mayorita, El Bardal and El Rebollar vineyards in Rodezno, and Alto del Rey in Labastida. These sites lie at 500-600 metres above sea level and the vines were planted on claylimestone soils more than 40 years ago.
The grapes were picked by hand, placed in 300 kg boxes and transported in refrigerated platforms to the winery to preserve their qualities. After destemming and crushing, the grapes were placed in tanks where alcoholic and malolactic fermentation took place naturally. This wine was aged for two years in American oak barrels made by our in-house coopers —new ones in the first year and four-year-old barrels in the second year. We carried out four rackings in the traditional way, from barrel to barrel, separating the sediment that was produced during the ageing process by candlelight. Bottled in March 2021.