2015 La Rioja Alta Vina Ardanza Tempranillo Garnacha

La Rioja Alta is a grand old estate founded (and still owned) by four wine growing families in 1890. The wines are produced from estate-owned, low-yielding, old vineyards that are still produced in a very traditional way. The winery's commitment to quality extends to keeping all production of oak in-house, utilising their own cooperage on site.
Vina Ardanza Reserva is produced of 78% Tempranillo from 30-year-old vines & 22% Garnacha from Rioja Oriental. Maturation takes place in 4-year-old American oak for 3 years, followed by extended aging in bottle prior to release.

Other Reviews....
Deep magenta. An intensely perfumed bouquet evokes ripe black raspberry, cherry cola, potpourri, tobacco and exotic spices, plus a smoky mineral flourish. Sweet and broad in the mouth, offering lush red and blue fruit, spicecake, mocha and coconut flavors that firm up on the back half. Finishes extremely long and spicy, with resonating florality, gently chewy tannins and lingering oak spice notes. Drink 2024 - 2034.
94 Points
Josh Raynolds - Antonio Galloni's Vinous (April 2021)

A rich nose of raspberry, crushed strawberry, blueberry, coconut, cedar and sweet spice. It’s medium-to full-bodied with fine tannins and fresh acidity. Creamy, balanced and layered with vibrant, spicy character. Long and polished. 80% tempranillo and 20% garnacha. Drink or hold.
96 Points
JamesSuckling.com

I tasted two vintages of their sleek and polished blend of Tempranillo and Garnacha, the oldest of which is the 2015 Viña Ardanza Reserva. It's a blend of 78% Tempranillo and 22% Garnacha (because they found that they needed a little more volume in the wine) from a powerful, warm and ripe year, very interesting to compare with the 2016. They consider 2015 a very good vintage; they compare it with 2001, a year when they produced all the wines. There are three wines from 2015, and there is something in common in all thee wines. The grapes were picked in mid-October and put through optical sorting to ferment followed by malolactic until the end of the year. The wine matured in used American oak barrels—the Tempranillo for 36 months with six manual rackings and the Garnacha for 30 months with five rackings. I find it to be more tertiary, with hints of leather and cured meat and a little wild, very spicy. It has a powerful palate with plenty of tannin, and it even feels that it needs some more polishing of perhaps powerful food... The final blend was bottled in September 2019. No 2013 or 2014 were produced. Drink 2022 - 2030.
94 Points
Luis Gutiérrez - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (July 2022)

Bright beacon of freshness, layers of dark cherry fruit, with hints of a bright Garnacha. Fine and soft tannin, lots of mocha and cacao. Juicy, lively, with a long finish. A model blend, excellent. Drink 2022 - 2030.
93 Points
Pedro Ballestero Torres MW - Decanter (December 2021)