Community Tasting Note

Tannatastic Likes this wine:

Friday, May 11, 2018 - Really quite brown in colour.

The nose is fantastic and, for me, an absolute bench-mark in how aged Rioja should smell. A gentle hint of some red fruits, with plenty of stewed, over-ripe and dried fruits and a hint of blackcurrant fruit-gums. It also has a certain savouriness with old wood, leather and a bit of sweetness from the oak regime.

On the palate, the fruit is slightly more dominant, perhaps surprisingly, pairing excellently with a Cote de Boeuf and Roquefort salad.

This is clearly an old wine, but given decent storage I don't see it completely falling apart any time soon, as the acid core of the '95 vintage (like '05) is keeping it wonderfully refreshing and focused (albeit for a 23 year old wine). Echoing the thread that took place on the discussion board recently, I can only point out that the score reflects my enjoyment of this particular wine at this particular moment. The CVNE GR'98 that we had the previous evening was also stunning (and ever so slightly preferred by my drinking companion), and a wine clearly built for ageing, but somehow the Ardanza just had a little more 'pizzazz' for me, if you will.

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