La Rioja Alta 904 Gran Reserva 2011 (OCC 6)

Description

By James Suckling in 2020 (JS96)
Lovely dried red fruit, such as plums with just a hint of prunes. Cedar, walnut and leather undertones. Full-bodied with lots of fruit, considering its age, as well as hints of smoke, tobacco, bark and black tea. Some balsamic at the finish. Traditionally styled with lovely results. Drink or hold.

By John Gilman in 2021 (JG95)
The 2011 vintage of Gran Reserva 904 from La Rioja Alta is a beautiful bottle of Rioja. At ten years of age, it is starting to really arrive at its sweet spot of drinkability, where it will probably remain for the next half century or so! The gorgeous bouquet wafts from the glass in a refined blend of raspberries, red plums, cloves, Cuban cigar wrapper, a complex base of salty soil tones, a hint of celery seed, orange zest, gentle smokiness and a lovely framing of toasted coconut American oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, velvety and vibrant, with a lovely core of fruit, superb complexity and focus, suave, fine-grained tannins and a long, tangy and perfectly balanced finish. This is a fairly ripe vintage of 904, coming in listed at 14.5 percent octane, but it is impeccably balanced and will age forever! Stunning wine.

By Neal Martin of Vinous in 2020 (NM94)
The 2011 Rioja Gran Reserva 904 has been one of my go-to cuvées since my earliest days as a wine lover. This latest release is a blend of 60-year-old Tempranillo from Briñas, Rodenzo and Villalba (89%) and the remainder Graciano from the Montecillo vineyard. Fully de-stemmed and aged for 54 months in American oak, it was bottled in November 2016. This is more reticent and less forthcoming on the nose compared to the Viña Ardanza, gradually unfolding to reveal enticing scents of raspberry, crushed strawberry, warm leather, terra cotta and a touch of meat juice. This needed more decanting than the Ardanza. The palate is beautifully balanced with fine-grained tannins, and ultra-smooth in terms of texture. Layers of red fruit laced with clove, sprigs of fresh mint and blood orange dovetail into a soy-tinged finish that you expect to fan out, though it declines; it needs maybe another 12–18 months to really show what it is capable of. Magnificent.

By Wine Advocate in 2020 (WA94)
I usually prefer the 904 to the 890, but there will be no Gran Reserva 890 until the 2010 vintage (from the last vintage I tasted, 2005). So, the only one of the extended-aging Haro-style reds I tasted this time was the 2011 Gran Reserva 904, which had a hard act to follow after the 2010 vintage. It’s a blend of 89% Tempranillo and 11% Graciano matured in American oak barrels for four years, and it was racked eight times from barrel to barrel during its élevage, which sounds a bit harsh for a vintage like 2011 when the wines were not as complete and robust as in 2010. It has the classic profile, aromas and flavors (decayed leaves, tobacco, sweet spices, a meaty touch and some black fruit), but the oak seems to take a more leading role and the palate feels less juicy. It finishes dry