Viña Ardanza Reserva is one of those wines that has an enormous and unalterable personality.
On July 10, 1890, five Basque and Rioja-based vine growers created "Sociedad Vinicola De La Rioja Alta" in what is known as the Haro Station District. This was the beginning of a fascinating business venture in which the only dream of the five founders was to craft and age high quality wines.
The European spirit which is so popular today was present in La Rioja and in our winery from the very beginning. Mr Vigier, a French expert, was hired as technical manager, and we were soon familiar with what is now known as “classic” production.
The company changed its name to "LA RIOJA ALTA" in 1891.
In 1941 the company took on its present name, LA RIOJA ALTA, S.A. A year later, when Leandro Ardanza Angulo was chairman of the board, we registered the brand name to which we most owe our fame and renown: "Viña Ardanza".
At the time, casks were manufactured entirely in the winery by a team of five coopers. In 2002, we returned to this tradition and now manufacture our own casks with wood imported from the U.S. and dried for 2 years in our coopery.
In 1970, a new cask hall was built, and we started to increase our vineyards, buying several estates. This was the time when new brands were introduced, such as Viña Arana and Viña Alberdi.
This was when the Club de Cosecheros was created, a new and daring way of conceiving the relationship between our clients and the winery. The Harvesters’ Club was created and continues to grow based on one thing: trust.
In 1985, we registered a brand name which was to become very popular in the future: "Marqués de Haro". At the same time, we stopped making the last young wines supplied by the winery, searching for a white wine with a great personality and different from other Spanish wines.
On January 16, 1996, work started on the new Labastida winery, located on our own estates just 1,500 metres from the Haro winery. This new facility enabled us to considerably improve the quality of the wines made by La Rioja Alta SA, especially with regard to the fermentation process.
Viña Ardanza Reserve
An abundant water reserve from the winter enabled the grapes to reach the end of the cycle in good condition, despite significant heat and drought during the summer. Rain in mid September slowed down grape ripening, resulting in a good alcoholic and phenolic balance. It was a decisive turning point, resulting in a high-quality vintage as, from that date, we enjoyed favourable weather until the end of the harvest. The official rating of this vintage was Very Good.
We started picking these plots in mid-October. The grapes were harvested manually and transported in refrigerated trucks to the winery. Alcoholic fermentation took place naturally, at controlled temperatures. Malolactic fermentation concluded at the end of the year. In March 2010, the selected wines were put in barrels to start ageing separately: the Tempranillo for 36 months with six manual rankings in American oak barrels averaging 4 years in age and the Garnacha for 30 months with five manual rankings in American oak barrels with two and three wines.
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