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From now on, whenever I see a bottle of La Rioja Alta "Viña Ardanza” Reserva Rioja, I'll be reminded of a laughter-filled wine tasting on a Monday morning in Manhattan. Magic happens and memories are created when you share a beautiful bottle of wine.
Tasting Viña Ardanza 2016 with winemaker Julio Saenz (l) and Guillermo de Aranzabal (r), president and 5th generation member of the family that owns La Rioja Alta, transported me back to Spain. Our conversation covered wine, my love of Spanish pop music from the 1980s and 1990s, and the benefits of retiring in Spain. Good times!La Rioja Alta has a rich history; it was founded in 1890 by five Riojan and Basque families in Rioja's famous Haro Station District. Today, when we're having meaningful conversations about women's roles in the wine industry, it was fascinating to learn that La Rioja Alta's first president was a woman and that women currently occupy important leadership roles at the winery.
Real wine is never just about the wine. If it were, countless poems, books, songs, and blog posts would not be written about fermented grapes. Real wine tells a story. For La Rioja Alta, wine expresses tradition, family, innovation, terroir, culture, and much more. Guillermo described La Rioja Alta's wines as "new classic Rioja" and "traditional but adapting to new trends." The wines capture the character of the vintage in a fresh and elegant style.
La Rioja Alta Viña Ardanza Reserva 2016 ($42) is a blend of 80% Tempranillo and 20% Garnacha, and I agree with winemaker Julio's description of the wine as "fruity and spicy." This wine is not harsh or out of sync; the tannins are beautifully integrated, and the oak does not overpower the fruit (they make their own barrels, too!). A pleasure to drink, 2016 is crooning in the glass now, but this beauty will age gracefully and will really hit those soaring notes in a few years. And maybe by then, I’ll be retired in Spain!
