1981 La Rioja Alta Rioja Viña Ardanza Reserva

Community Tasting Notes (6) Avg Score: 91.9 points

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  8/22/2023 - Krisgib Likes this wine: 90 Points

  My wife Jane and I are big Ardanza fans, and quite finicky about it, and having tried some older wines and been a bit disappointed, approached this with trepidation and two nice shorthorn ribeye steaks 😊
  
  I decanted the wine and left it to stand for around an hour while we cooked, ate starters etc. then the main event. And we tried the wine.
  
  Interesting experience... very smooth, not much fruit, tobacco, woody vanilla and misty mornings, VERY palatable and good with the meat but not so much of the Rioja Alta S.A. character that we are used to... quite complex though and very drinkable, especially as it spent a bit of time in the glass. We've had VAs from the 90s and more recent before, and this didn't have quite the same punch, but was very enjoyable nonetheless.

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  5/7/2023 - Trubnut Likes this wine: 92 Points

  To enjoy this wine, unfortunately, I have had to uncork two bottles.
  In the first bottle, I found just an old wine, showing the end of its life, with vibrant acidity, as a beating heart at the end of its days, and with nothing else but old wood and leather shaping its body.
  The second bootle is really a little treasure, it is as wonderful as could be expected.
  
  Brilliant vermilion with brick red edge.
  Pleasant aromas fill the nose with red fruit ham fragrance, followed by lovely sweet vanilla, toasted and spicy wood, undergrowth, and balsamic scents.
  Fresh acidity kisses the mouth, and immediately grows filling the palate with the silky creamy sensation of ham and toffee.
  
  To sum up, we have a powerful, elegant and seductive wine with a very long final taste with wood and balsamic sensation, menthol and spicy memories.

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  6/5/2020 - jdfrench Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Still great almost 40 yrs later...

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  11/22/2017 - humagne wrote: 94 Points

  Great bottle of mature Rioja. Spicy and earthy nose, elegant and present on the palate, long finish. Fully mature.

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  10/30/2013 - Los 12 Glotones Likes this wine: 94 Points

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  Els12golafres Wine Tasting Group: http://vinosclasicos.blogspot.com.es/2013/10/vina-ardanza-1981-reserva.html
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  Precioso color rubí rojizo de capa media-alta, brillante, vivo, limpio, sin asomo de precipitados. Reflejos cobrizos y ambarinos, luminoso. Ribete estrecho, anaranjado, con marcadas diferencias respecto al menisco. Pasaría por un Ardanza de mitad de los 90, muy similar al del 96 por su intensidad.
  
  Nariz de infarto, potente y delicado al mismo tiempo, sacando toneladas de fruta roja roja confitada (guindas, escarchados, carne de membrillo), amarrasquinada, con un deje licoroso y especiado de altísima calidad. Elegante, perfumado, muy expresivo, con una enorme personalidad. Una de las ocasiones en que mejor se ha expresado la gran cantidad de garnacha que llevaba este Viña Ardanza. Van asomando puntas florales (geranio, lilas, pétalos marchitos) y un recuerdo de maderas finas, cedro, pimienta de jamaica, cremosos, clavo, laurel. Complejo, lleno de detalles.
  
  En boca es de una juventud insultante, vivo, fresco, sabroso, desbordante en fruta acídula y terrosos. Viene sobrado de energía y de vigor, con una estructura temible, taninos firmes, pero no por ello desequilibrado. Aún tiene que seguir ganando en botella durante una buena temporada gracias a una acidez desbocada. No desaparece, larguísimo, mostrando un elegantísimo punto confitado en retronasal. Soprende ver como el Ardanza es capaz de expresar lo mejor de esta magnífica cosecha. Gran gran vino!!!
  
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  60% tempranillo, 25% garnacha, 10% graciano y mazuelo, 5% viura - 12.8% vol.
  La garnacha procede de viñedos ubicados en Tudelilla y el resto de uvas son originarias de la finca Viña Ardanza de Montecilla y de pequeños productores de las localidades de Haro, Briñas, Briones, Villalba y Labastida. Realiza la primera fermentación en depósitos de acero inoxidable tras lo cual es trasegado para afinarse durante 6 meses en viejas tinas de roble de 18.000 litros. Es trasegado a barricas usadas de roble americano de 225 litros en las que se cría entre 36 y 42 meses, con un total de 6 trasiegas manuales. Embotellado a finales de 1985. Un mínimo de 24 meses de guarda en botellero antes de ser comercializado.
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