2009 La Rioja Alta Rioja Gran Reserva 904

• By Josh Raynolds
  Rioja: The Past Is Always Present (Apr 2021), 4/1/2021, (See more on Vinous...)

  (La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904 Red) Login and sign up and see review text.

Decanter

• By David Williams
  La Rioja Alta, 12/3/2019, (See more on Decanter...)

  (La Rioja Alta, 904 Gran Reserva, Rioja, Alta, Northern Spain, Spain, Red) Login and subscribe to see review text.

• By Sarah Jane Evans MW
  Tempranillo: Spain’s top 40, 1/31/2019, (See more on Decanter...)

  (La Rioja Alta, Gran Reserva 904, Rioja, Northern Spain, Spain, Red) Login and subscribe to see review text.

JamesSuckling.com

• By James Suckling
  6/22/2018, (See more on JamesSuckling.com...)

  (La Rioja Alta Rioja Gran Reserva 904, Red, Spain) Login and sign up and see review text.

• By James Suckling
  6/22/2018, (See more on JamesSuckling.com...)

  (La Rioja Alta Rioja Gran Reserva 904, Red, Spain) Login and sign up and see review text.

Decanter

• By Steven Spurrier
  Steven Spurrier's Fine Wine World June 2019, 4/29/2018, (See more on Decanter...)

  (La Rioja Alta, Gran Reserva, Rioja, Northern Spain, Spain, Red) Login and subscribe to see review text.

JancisRobinson.com

• By Jancis Robinson, MW
  12/16/2017, (See more on JancisRobinson.com...)

  (La Rioja Alta, 904 Gran Reserva Rioja Red) Subscribe to see review text.

Full Pull

• By Paul Zitarelli
  Full Pull La Rioja Alta, 6/14/2018

  (La Rioja Alta Rioja Gran Reserva 904) Hello friends. Today we have the return of a Gran Reserva from one of our list’s favorite Rioja houses: La Rioja Alta. I think we all love LRA so much because they’re old-school, but not painfully so. We consider these wines as Rioja classics—true to this particular part of the world, but still retaining plenty of accessibility. (And as a special bonus, there’s an extra LRA white and red at the bottom of this offer).It’s been a while since we’ve been able to offer a vintage of this wine. LRA didn’t bottle in 2008 or 2006 because of vintage standards—they only bottle Excellent and some Very Good vintages—and the 2007 was in such low stock that we only got a few bottles for our warehouse retail rack. The last vintage we were able to offer was 2005. Since there are many new list members that have joined over the last two years—and two years is long enough for most of us to forget about the nitty gritty details—here’s a quick reminder of what LRA is all about: La Rioja Alta is a classic Rioja producer, in the vein of Lopez de Heredia. They have stubbornly resisted modernity, going against the grain as much of Rioja has gotten bigger, riper, richer. For that, they are rewarded with love and admiration from those of us who care about terroir expression and who want our Rioja to taste like Rioja, not like new-world Tempranillo. Producers like LRA don’t follow the short-term winds of fashion. They play the long game. They think about how their winery will be viewed in decades, in centuries. LRA releases two Gran Reservas, the 890 (commemorating the founding of the winery in 1890) and the 904 (commemorating their gaining of most of their most important vineyard properties in 1904). This 904 is a blend of 90% Tempranillo and 10% Graciano, aged entirely in four-year-old American oak barrels made in-house (yes, they make their own barrels) for four years. The wine was bottled in November 2014, where it has now rested since, putting us at almost a decade past vintage. Only in Rioja. Wine Advocate: Copyrighted material withheld. This wine is a marvelous mix of sweet and savory spice, salt and cream, crunchy leaves and luscious fruit. Gutierrez’s description of the palate is spot on—clean and polished yet decidedly serious. It moves so effortlessly between juicy delicious fruit, smoky wood spice, and gripping tannins that it’s hard to see where one begins and the other ends. The texture, the flavors, the overall package are all true to Rioja; LRA’s 904 is a modern classic. I know calling a $60 wine a “bargain” (as Gutierrez does, and as we would echo) is likely to chafe the chaps of a few, but this really does offer untold pleasures for its price point, and it offers a wine that is glorious now, but will only continue to unfurl over another two decades (at least) in bottle. Many of our list members are already rapturous about previous vintages, so we’re likely preaching to the choir here, but for any lover of Rioja or interested party, this is a bottle you should own.