Rare and Fine Wine from Italy and Spain
Live Virtual Auction, 14 May 2023
Rare and Fine Wine from Italy and Spain
About the SessionAn exquisite selection of highly sought-after collectables of Fine and Rare Italian and Spanish wines.
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
About this Item
La Rioja Alta is one of the 50 most admired brands on the planet. In the late 1800s, when French vineyards were ravaged by the Phylloxera virus, five quality-conscious Spanish wine growers in Rioja combined their efforts to produce well-made, modern Rioja wines for the export market. Then, Haro was very remote and the long distances were challenge before the rail link to Bilbao was built. Once completed, the Bodegas La Rioja Alta was established right next to the train station. Still to this day, La Rioja Alta produces their wines in the traditional way of long-ageing, in American oak casks, and produces wines with complex bouquets, rich flavours and very smooth textures that can age superbly for many years.
Critics Ratings
‘This 2004, from a superb vintage shows a beautiful light red color 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 flavors 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.’ - Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate, 96/100 (Dec 2013)
‘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, offering sappy red fruit and floral pastille flavors and an undertone of sweet vanilla. The spiciness comes back on 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.’ - Josh Raynolds, Vinous, 94/100 (Sept 2014)
'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.' - Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, 17.5/20 (Sep 2018)
Provenance
Private Client
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