Rioja Reserva, Selección Especial, Viña Alberdi, La Rioja Alta S.A. 2021
Parker 94 (2026); Tim Atkin MW 93; Hudin.com 95; James Suckling 94; Adrian van Velsen 93; Vinous 92 (2026); Wine Spectator 91 (2026); JancisRobinson.com 91
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Why this wine
The house that defined the traditional Rioja Reserva, and the cuvée where its method is easiest to read. Two years in American oak coopered on site, racked by candlelight, on Tempranillo from vines planted over forty years ago. It is the classical Haro style in its most approachable form.
At a glance
- Grape
- Tempranillo
- Region
- Rioja, Spain
- Alcohol
- 14.00%
- Body
- Medium
- Acidity
- Medium
- Tannins
- Medium
- Sweetness
- Dry
- Drink
- Medium (5-10 yrs)
- Pairs with
- Red Meat, Poultry & Pork, Cheese
How it tastes
Ample red fruit layered with vanilla, toffee, caramel and nutmeg, the signature of long ageing in American oak. Supple and smooth on the palate, medium in weight, with fine tannins and a long, elegant finish that turns faintly balsamic. Tempranillo 100%.
The producer
La Rioja Alta S.A. was founded in 1890 in the old railway quarter of Haro by five families, among them the Alberdis, whose name this wine carries. Oak sits at the centre of the house style: the winery keeps its own coopers, who build barrels by artisanal methods from wood imported from the United States and air-dried on site at Haro, and racking is still done by hand, by candlelight, every six months. Viña Alberdi is drawn from the Mayorita, El Bardal and El Rebollar vineyards at Rodezno and from Alto del Rey at Labastida, sites between 500 and 600 metres on clay-limestone soils, planted more than forty years ago and hand-harvested. After destemming and crushing, alcoholic fermentation and malolactic conversion both ran naturally on wild yeasts, and the wine spent two years in American oak: entirely new barrels through the first year, four-year-old barrels through the second, with four rackings in the traditional manner.
Food and drinking
Serve at 16–18°C. Roast lamb, milk-fed kid, grilled chorizo and morcilla, or a plate of aged Manchego all suit it. Drink over the next five to ten years; half an hour in a decanter opens it out, though it is not essential.