1997 La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904

La Rioja Alta was started in 1890 by five families of winemakers from the Basque and Rioja regions. They founded a cooperative called Sociedad Vinicola de La Rioja. Today descendants of the same five families run the winery, which includes nearly 1,000 vineyard acres. The estate grows primarily Tempranillo, along with lesser quantities of Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano. The wines are all blends, and usually none are single-vineyard wines. Reviewers are invariably impressed with the wines, often awarding points in the mid- to high-90s, and the estate is considered in the league of classic Rioja producers along with its neighbors Lopez de Heredia and Muga. Wine Advocate’s Neal Martin has written that “I have admired (La Rioja Alta’s) wines form many years, Rioja that speaks so eloquently and with such clarity of place…. Quite simply, these are some of the finest Riojas that can grace your cellar….”

Rioja Demoninación de Origine Calificada is Spain’s most important wine region. Located in northern Spain, it comprises 135,000 vineyard acres and was the first official appellation in Spain, earning its official DO status in 1926. In 1991 it became Spain’s first DOCa, Spain’s most prestigious appellation category. The DOCa is divided into three subzones: La Rioja Alavesa in the northeast; La Rioja Alta in the southwest; and La Rioja Baja in the east. About 75 percent of Rioja wines are reds, with Tempranillo the predominant grape. Garnacha (Grenache), Mazuelo (Carignan) and Graciano, a spicy, high-acidity red grape, are also allowed. White wines are made from Macabeo, Garnacha Blanca and Malvasia. Wines were made in this region well before the Romans arrived, though the Romans then the medieval monks refined vineyard management and wine production. In the 19th century French families migrated to Rioja after phylloxera wiped out their vineyards, and the French helped establish the tradition of wine blends, still part of Rioja winemaking. According to the rules for the appellation, a wine labelled a simple Rioja can spend less than a year in an oak aging barrel. A Criziana is aged for at least two years, one in oak. Rioja Reserva is aged at least three years, with at least one in oak. A Rioja Gran Reserva must be aged at least five years, with two years in oak.