LA RIOJA ALTA Gran Reserva 904, Rioja

La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904 is one of Rioja’s benchmark traditional reds, a long-aged Tempranillo-Graciano blend drawn from old vines in high-altitude plots in Villalba, Briñas, Rodezno and the Montecillo vineyard at Fuenmayor. Fermented in tank then aged around four years in seasoned in-house American oak, with every barrel racked by hand, it leaves the bodega only after extended bottle ageing, giving a finely woven, mature profile rather than primary fruit. Recent releases such as the 2015 Selección Especial, typically around 90% Tempranillo and 10% Graciano, have drawn 95–97-point scores from Luis Gutiérrez, Tim Atkin MW, James Suckling and others for their layered dried red-fruit, tobacco, citrus peel and sweet-spice complexity, silky tannins and capacity to evolve effortlessly over two decades or more, making 904 a compelling value in the upper tier of classic European reds.