2005 La Rioja Alta Vina Ardanza Reserva

Tempranillo, Garnacha. Century-old winery dating back to 1890. Tempranillo comes from 35-year-old Rioja Alta vineyards while the Garnacha is sourced from Rioja Baja. Hand-harvested, refrigerated transport to the winery. Tempranillo spends 36 months in American oak and Garnacha spends just 30 months in American oak. Six rackings during ageing. Very open and classic nose, this wine is deep, complex and at the perfect moment for drinking. Lots of oaky sensation on the palate. Concentrated and refined. This is pure, classic elegance. Superb value and a must-taste experience. (FC)

Cropped from a vintage deemed almost perfect, the 2005 Viña Ardanza Reserva follows the same varietal mix found in the last vintages; 80% Tempranillo and 20% Garnacha. The grapes are always sourced from the same vineyards, 30-year-old Tempranillo from Fuenmayor and Cenicero in Rioja Alta and Garnacha from Tudelilla in Rioja Baja. In the case of the 2005, it was racked six times during its elevage. The one bottle I tasted first was a bit evolved with plenty of cigar ash, incense and leather along with hung game (woodcock came to mind). But the palate was drying out a bit. Another bottle showed much fresher, with a great classical Rioja profile. This is very affordable making it a superb value for what it delivers. 600,000 bottles were produced of the prodigious 2005 vintage. This wine is not produced in 2002, 2003, 2006, 2011 or 2013.

Very sweet and opulent with oak in evidence and some cough-medicine thickness. Pretty robust but no hurry to drink this. A little sharp on the end. This bottle was not showing nearly as well as when this wine was tasted previously. (JR)