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2020 La Rioja Alta "Viña Alberdi" Reserva Rioja (375ml)

2020 La Rioja Alta "Viña Alberdi" Reserva Rioja (375ml)

93JS
92DC
92JG
92RP
92TA
91WS
$19.99

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New York City: 3

93

James Suckling

Reviewed August 2024
A classical, typical Rioja Alta red with elegant notes of vanilla, coconut, smoked spices and strawberries. Refined and suave, with fine tannins and a long, creamy finish. Juicy and elegant. Really approachable now, but give it two more years to get more mushroom complexity. (ZS)

Professional Reviews

92

Decanter

Review Date: 03/2025
Classic reserva aromas of red berry fruit and generous, chocolatey oak lead to a soft and rounded palate with very well-managed tannins. It is approachable, elegant and ticks all the boxes for this style of wine at an affordable price. (BW)

92

John Gilman

Review Date: 05/2025
The 2020 Rioja “Viña Alberdi” Reserva from La Rioja Alta is made from some of their higher altitude vineyards, with the vines at least forty years of age. It is crafted entirely from tempranillo and is aged for two years in American oak barrels, with the first year of élevage spent in new casks and the second in three year-old barrels. The 2020 vintage here comes in at fourteen percent alcohol and offers up a lovely bouquet of red and black raspberries, cigar wrapper, a beautiful array of Rioja spice tones, a fine foundation of chalky soil and a lovely framing of American oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and complex, with a gorgeous core of fruit, excellent soil undertow, firm, well-integrated tannins and excellent length and grip on the very well balanced finish. The wine is already starting to get nicely velvety on the attack, but it has enough backend tannins to merit a brief period of hibernation in the cellar before starting to drink the wine with abandon. Fine juice. (JG) 92+

92

Wine Advocate

Review Date: 02/2024
The younger wine here is the 2020 Viña Alberdi, a versatile version of the Haro reds. It was produced with Tempranillo fermented in stainless steel and matured in American oak barrels for two years (it's sold as Reserva in international markets and Crianza in Spain). It has 14% alcohol with a pH of 3.6 and five grams of acidity. It has a classical nose of ripe fruit, American oak and spices, the subtle notes of forest floor, still young. The palate is velvety and very balanced with polished tannins. Approachable but should also age. (LG)

Notes

La Rioja Alta, originally founded in 1890, is renowned for producing traditionally-styled wines that deliver consistency and age-worthiness, vintage after vintage. This historic bodega was formed in 1890 by five winegrowers eager to explore the export potential of “modern” wines from the region. At that time, French vineyards were ravaged by phylloxera and quality was inconsistent. Rioja, separated from France by the Pyrenees, boasted a favorable climate and phylloxera-free soils. Experiments with Bordeaux-style vinification and barrique-aging proved successful and a new style of wine, based upon indigenous Tempranillo, aged in barrique, was developed. Since then, many wineries in Rioja have continued to experiment, slowly moving away aging in American oak as has been the tradition, or even no oak at all. La Rioja Alta is adamant about preserving their historic style, however, and continues to mature their wines in American oak barriques, leading to the classic savory style the region is so well known for. This is not to say that La Rioja Alta is a rustic winery, however, as they now occupy a new ultra-modern winery near Haro. All the wines produced are aged for extended periods of time in barrel and bottle; they are ready for consumption but will continue to age for many more years.

Details

OriginRioja, Spain
Type/VarietalTempranillo
Alcohol Content13%
SKU1984540