2004 Gran Reserva 904, La Rioja Alta, Rioja, Spain

Pale, intense ruby. Very pale rim. Lots of mildly cheesy development on the nose with great lift and charm. Soft and easy. Some strawberry fruit. Dusty, dry finish. Pretty classic and great that it’s still possible to find such a mature vintage in retail distribution. 

Drink 2015 - 2030

90% Tempranillo and 10% Graciano.

Bright red. Heady aromas of dried red berries, cherry, smoked meat, vanilla, and potpourri, with a spicy element gaining strength with air. Fleshy and seamless in texture, it offers sappy red fruit and floral pastille flavours and an undertone of sweet vanilla. The spiciness comes back in the finish, which features suave floral and cherry-vanilla qualities and sneaky tannins. This classic, old-school Rioja is delicious now but is destined for a long, graceful evolution.

The 2004 Gran Reserva 904 is Tempranillo from Brinas, Labastida, and Villalba, balanced with 10% Graciano from Briones and Rodezno. The grapes were fermented and macerated in inox vats for 14 days at 28º C, and malolactic fermentation lasted 28 days. The wine aged for 4 years in used American oak barrels averaging 4 years old, during which time it was manually racked 8 times. 150,000 bottles were filled. This 2004, from a superb vintage, shows a beautiful light red colour with a brick rim and a superb nose redolent of balsamic woods, spices, leather, well-hung meat, incense and truffles.

The light to medium-bodied palate shows fully resolved tannins, great acidity and pure, pungent flavours that linger in the mouth forever, and that can only be Rioja. This is a wine to smell over and over again. It might sound like an exaggeration, but this wine is still too young, and you should wait a little bit and drink the superb 2001 vintage, which should still be available on the market while this one matures in bottle. At this quality level, the price is superb, especially considering that the wine is being released 10 years after the vintage.

Drink 2016 - 2024