La Rioja Alta can trace their history back to 1890 when five Riojan and Basque families founded the “Sociedad Vinícola de La Rioja Alta” in Haro’s Station District. The first president was a woman: Doña Saturnina García Cid y Gárate. Monsieur Vigier, a Frenchman, was the House’s first winemaker and the Reserva 1890 (predecessor of today’s Gran Reserva 890) is the first wine he made.
Don Alfredo Ardanza, founder of La Rioja Alta and owner of the Ardanza Winery, proposed the merger of both companies. To commemorate the event, they made the Reserva 1904, which eventually became the Gran Reserva 904. In 1941 they took on the definitive name that persists today: La Rioja Alta, S.A. But it wasn’t until 28th September 1942 that they we registered the most famous and renowned brand of the house: Viña Ardanza.
Typically released 5 years on from harvest, the Tempranillo (80%) comes from 30-year-old vines in the Cuesta (Cenicero) and Montecillo (Fuenmayor) vineyards. The Garnacha (20%) is from La Pedriza in Tudelilla, Rioja Oriental, a 40-hectare estate with unbeatable conditions for growing this variety.
Hand-harvested the grapes undergo a vigorous sorting process both by eye and then on the optical selection table. Alcoholic and malolactic fermentations are completed naturally and unhurried. The finest lots are then selected for ageing in American oak barrels, 20% of which are new. Only after three years of ageing is the final blend assembled.
