LA RIOJA ALTA GRAN RESERVA 904 SELECCIÓN ESPECIAL 2015

Supreme old school Rioja, like a time warp to the finest Spanish red of forty years ago. La Rioja Alta pride themselves on traditional style, not drink-young fashion. On average they produce 4 vintages of this wine every decade, and it spends 4 years in barrel then 5 years in bottle before release. This had all the best quality fruit and American oak, with these impeccable ingredients contributing directly to a red of massive depth, structure and savoury complexity. 

Winery notes (2015 Vintage)
"Tempranillo (90%) is the main variety. Grapes are selected from our vineyards in Villalba, Briñas and Rodezno, and are blended with 10% Graciano from the Montecillo vineyard in Fuenmayor.

Medium-high robe with an elegant garnet rim. Great aromatic complexity, with notes of wild strawberry, red cherry, plum, blackberry and cranberry combined with aromas of tobacco, brioche, ground coffee, caramel, cedar and cinnamon blossom. The alcohol and acidity are elegantly balanced on the palate and its polished, gentle tannins and freshness provide a smooth and refined mouthfeel. Fine, delicate and very long aftertaste, that will continue to be rounded with time in the bottle, making this new Gran Reserva 904 a wine with great cellaring potential."

97/100 James Suckling (2015 Vintage)
"The release of the new Selección Especial 2015 was delayed for a year because they felt the wine was not ready. Despite many memorable vintages, the winery had never previously granted the Selección Especial distinction (which marks the house’s truly exceptional years, to the 904). A perfumed nose of plums, mulberries, mushrooms, caramel, sweet tobacco and sweet spices. Full-bodied with velvety, fine tannins and lively acidity. Balanced and supple with a creamy texture. Delicate and precise with a long, polished finish. 90% tempranillo and 10% graciano. Drink or hold."

95/100 Luis Gutierrez, RobertParker.com (2015 Vintage)
"They used the words subtlety, elegance, finesse, delicacy and silk to define the 2015 Gran Reserva 904 Selección Especial, a blend of 90% Tempranillo from their vineyards in Villalba, Briñas and Rodezno with 10% Graciano from the Montecillo vineyard in Fuenmayor that was picked 23 days later than the Tempranillo. The grapes were sorted optically for the first time, and they fermented in stainless steel where the wine went through malolactic too. The wine was put in barrel in January 2016—used American oak barrels built by their own coopers—where it matured for four years, during which time it was racked every six months. 2015 was a healthy vintage with balanced ripeness that delivered wines with good aging potential. They thought the wine needed a little more time in bottle to polish those tannins and have decided to hold it and release the wine around March 2023; it will be marked Selección Especial, the first 904 to do so, as they have very high hopes for this year and believe it's one of the finest vintages. They think it will develop the sophistication in the palate with a little more time and that is should achieve the silkiness that is the signature of 904. This is very 2015; I saw quite strong tannins in all the 2015 wines I tasted from Rioja Alta. There are some 150,000 bottles of this. Drink 2024 – 2035."

95/100 Neal Martin, Vinous (2015 Vintage)
"Vivid ruby. Expansive red and blue fruit preserve, tobacco, potpourri, spice and botanical herb aromas, with vanilla and smoky mineral notes emerging as the wine opens up. Sappy, penetrating and gently chewy on the palate, offering vibrant, mineral- and spice-accented black raspberry, bitter cherry and rose pastille flavours that deepen and turn sweeter on the back half. Shows sharp focus and floral lift on the impressively long, youthfully tannic finish, which leaves behind notes of candied blue fruits and spicecake." Drink 2025 – 2036