La Rioja Alta Vina Ardanza Reserva Half Bottle 2016

This wine is in half bottle format. 

94+/100 - The 2016 Viña Ardanza Reserva was produced with 80% Tempranillo and 20% Garnacha that matured in used American oak barrels for three years, where it was hand-racked from barrel to barrel six times in the case of Tempranillo and five times for the Garnacha, as it had a slightly shorter élevage of 30 months. Against all odds, I found the 2016 to be fresher than the 2015 and less developed, despite the fact that winemaker Julio Sáenz told me he considers it a warmer year. But I have found many wines I like in 2016, and the wine feels very clean and quite harmonious, younger and less developed, with more primary notes and a velvety mouthfeel. 600,000 bottles produced. The wine was bottled in June 2020. - Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate

95/100 - Viña Ardanza is one of those wines that makes friends everywhere, consistently over-delivering on quality. While I have given my heart to La Rioja Alta's 890, that wine is only made in the best years. Year in, year out, Ardanza is the essence of Rioja. After three years in barrel, it's balanced by notes of sumptuous Garnacha fruit. - Sarah Jane Evans MW, Decanter

95/100 - Savory and complex with dried orange peel, cedar and plenty of sweet spices, walnuts, caramel, dried mushrooms and pine needles. Shows maturity here, with a medium body and superb freshness. Incredibly long finish with lots of truffle and walnut. Lasts over a minute. Very complete now, but you can still hold it. - James Suckling