99 POINT
James Suckling
This is really refined and complex, with dark mineral, savory berries, mussels, walnuts, sweet spices, truffles, dried oranges, forest floor and cocoa powder. Beautiful acidity with vertical and velvety tannins. Tense, dimensional and very long. Drink or keep holding.
98 POINT
Decanter
I must confess that I find it hard to be objective about the 890, which is one of my all-time favourites, and 2010 is a particularly good vintage. With attention to detail in the vineyard and in the winery, the wine – named after the founding year, only made in the very best years – gets ever better. It is the very essence of fine Rioja, with succulent cherry fruits, sweet spices, mocha, supple and generously rounded. Aged for no less than six years in carefully selected American oak, and with no sign of weariness. This one is made for the long haul.
97 POINT
Robert Parker
They were eager to show me their 2010 Gran Reserva 890, their flagship wine from one of the most heralded vintages of recent times, the next vintage of this wine since 2005. It’s 95% Tempranillo, 3% Graciano and 2% Mazuelo that fermented destemmed and crushed with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel vats for 18 days, the Tempranillo and Mazuelo together and the Graciano separately. After letting the wine settle for the winter, they selected the lots that would age for six years in used American oak barrels with 10 manual rackings. The wine epitomizes the classical style of Rioja Alta with long aging in barrel, developed and tertiary wines with a silky palate and a complex and decadent nose of forest floor, truffles, cigar ash and cedar wood. They need a very special selection of vineyards at higher altitude that take longer to ripen, and they don’t do it fully every year. If they don’t, the grapes go to Ardanza, but in 2010, the days were warm and the nights very cold and the grapes ripened thoroughly and could stand the long time in barrel without being oaky. They have stopped the last rackings to keep a little more freshness, and the wine feels phenomenal. This has to be one of the finest vintages for this wine. It’s drinkable now but should also age for a very long time; it’s intense, complex and elegant. A selection of 236 barrels were blended and bottled unfiltered in March 2017 into 61,643 bottles, 4,189 magnums and some larger formats. There will be a 2011 of this wine and then 2015 and possibly 2016 (but no 2012, 2013 or 2014). This is a very intense 890. Classicism in a bottle.
Aroma af søde kirsebær, blommer, tobak, kanel, vanilje, peber, læder og chokolade. Fine tanniner gør den blød og imødekommende at drikke nu, selvom vinen har et lagringspotentiale på mindst 50 år foran sig. Frugten er frisk og saftig, og efterlader et indtryk af en kompleks, dyb og silkeblød vin.
Vinen lagres i imponerende seks år på brugte fade af amerikansk egetræ, med grundige analyser og smagninger af de separate fade undervejs. Kun de bedste herfra finder vej til den endelige vin, hvoraf der i 2010-årgangen blev produceret omkring 60.000 flasker. Som man kender det med store vine fra eks. Bordeaux, er 890 Gran Reserva ikke filtreret, for at bevare mest muligt af vinens unikke aromaer.
La Rioja Altas 890 Gran Reserva hører til helt i toppen af hierarkiet over de største spanske vine. Især i denne uimodståeligt flotte årgang 2010, der har vist sig at være blandt de allerbedste nyere årgange i Rioja.
890 Gran Reserva består i 2010-udgaven af 95 % Tempranillo, mens resten udgøres af Graciano og Mazuelo. De nøje udvaglte drue kommer fra nogle af husets egne og bedste marker, samt fra nogle af La Rioja Altas ældste vinstokke. Der høstet naturligvis udelukkende med håndkraft, så kun de bedste af de bedste druer finder vej til vineriet, hvortil de transporteres i små nedkølede kasser, for at sikre den optimale kvalitet hele vejen.
