La Rioja Alta, S.A.
Classic Haro estate famed for its long-aged Gran Reserva 904 and 890, founded by five growers beside the Haro railway station in 1890.
About La
La Rioja Alta, S.A. was founded in 1890 when five Riojan and Basque growers established the Sociedad Vinícola de La Rioja Alta in Haro's Station District (Barrio de la Estación), strategically beside the railway that carried Rioja's wines to a France ravaged by phylloxera. Notably, its first president was a woman, Doña Saturnina García Cid y Gárate. After Alfredo Ardanza merged his own winery into the group in 1904, the company adopted its definitive name in 1941. Its renowned Gran Reserva wines 904 and 890 are named for those dates, with the leading digit dropped. The house is celebrated for an emphatically traditional, long-aged style built on Tempranillo with Graciano and Garnacha, matured for years in American oak. Today the descendants of the founding families remain its principal shareholders, and the group also owns estates in Rioja, Rías Baixas and Ribera del Duero.
Flagship wines
- Gran Reserva 904
- Gran Reserva 890
- Viña Ardanza Reserva
- Viña Alberdi
Editorial notes
Viña Ardanza Reserva is the accessible flagship; the rare 890 and 904 Gran Reservas are released only after extended cellar ageing and reward patience.