1970 La Rioja Alta Rioja Viña Ardanza Reserva

Community Tasting Notes (27) Avg Score: 91.5 points

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  2/26/2024 - SimonG wrote: flawed

  What a shame. DOA having shed its pigment to the tune of a mid rosé, and showing a subtly volatile past-it-and-then-some old wine nose and palate. Good bottles of this can still be excellent.

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  6/10/2022 - mrbry83 Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Solid and tasty. Oak seems to be all gone and feels like a red burg. Nice acidity and good amount of sweet citrus & raspberries on the mid-palate. A bit of citrus zest as well to balance out juicy fruits. On the nose it's full tertiary old grandparents closet, leather and cedar.

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  5/22/2022 - Peter Spijker Likes this wine: 91 Points

  My first experience with really old wine. PSPatrick's note below says it all perfectly. My bottle was in a good condition, no seepage and a good fill. The Durand made easy work of opening the cork, which was soft and fully saturated. The wine is pale garnet with some orange on the rim. Initially, the wine almost smelled a bit sweet and raisin-y, but it turned out fine. Some blueberry, mushroom, balsamic, tobacco, cedar, spice and herbs. Soft but still present tannins, good length, very elegant. Did not decant, but the wine stayed alive until finished (and would probably have kept going). Very fine sediment at the bottom of the bottle. Drink now, but I reckon this will stay good for some time.

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  3/22/2022 - forceberry wrote: 91 Points

  Translucent and quite pale brick-orange color with a reddish coppery core and an almost yellow rim. The nose feels quite tertiary and even slightly oxidative yet not tired with fully mature aromas of beef jerky, cranberry sauce, some dried cherries, a little bit of plum liqueur, light hoi sin notes, a hint of smoke and a touch of aged funky character. The vanilla notes typical of Ardanza seem to have disappeared over the years. On the palate the wine feels quite aged and tertiary with a medium body and savory flavors of crunchy cranberries and wizened red plums, some oxidative notes of soy sauce, light earthy tones, a little bit of mushroomy funk, a hint of meat consommé and a touch of smoke. The high acidity lends great intensity and sense of structure to the wine, while the fully resolved tannins lend only a fine touch to the velvety texture of the wine. The finish is very long, juicy and subtly grippy with dry tertiary flavors of ripe cherries, some beef jerky, a little bit of old leather, light ferrous notes of blood, a hint of sour cherry bitterness and a touch of soy sauce.
  
  This was the second bottle of this vintage that I've tasted, and this time around the wine seemed noticeably more evolved and tertiary compared to the first bottle I tasted some five years ago. I thought that bottle was surprisingly youthful for its age, showing even a tiny bit of potential for further development, whereas this bottle seemed like it had reached its plateau of maturity years ago and was already on the verge of starting to go downhill. While not as impressive as the previous bottle, coming across as a bit more tertiary than I wanted it to be, this was still holding up remarkably well, showing all of the qualities one looks for in an old Rioja red. Classic, delicious stuff.

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  3/22/2021 - sharonandroland Likes this wine: 95 Points

  Absolutely stunning - every single bottle

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