2015 La Rioja Alta 904 Gran Reserva

Always happy to taste any of the Rioja Alta wines. No surprise that this is benchmark stuff. Great balance of sweet fruit, elegant oak and texture. (AWH)

Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa . 90% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano. Four years in American oak. TA 5.5 g/l, RS 1 g/l. Pale crimson-brick hue. Lean and savoury, with pure red fruit – pomegranate – and a gentle salted-almond note. So elegant and long, with a deliciously salty finish. (FG)

I tasted again 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 that I had already tasted in mid-2022 before the wine was released. Time in bottle has done it some good, polishing the strong tannins that are the signature from 2015, though they are still not fully resolved, and a few more years in bottle will do it good. It's tasty, very classical, balanced and fresh. Impressive for such a powerful year. It was bottled in March 2020 after it matured in used American oak barrels for four years.