Tasting note: La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904, current release
An opinionated tasting note on La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904 2016: nose, palate, drinking window to the late 2030s, and what to pair it with.
La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904 is the bottle I reach for when someone says Rioja has lost its nerve. The current release is the 2016, a Tempranillo with 10% Graciano aged roughly four years in American oak. It costs around £70 in the UK and lands in the low 60s in euros at home. This is traditional Rioja made on purpose, not by accident, and it tastes like it.
The bottle and its context
La Rioja Alta S.A. has worked out of Haro since 1890, in the railway quarter known as the Barrio de la Estación. The 904 sits a step below the legendary 890 and a step above the Viña Ardanza, and for my money it is the smartest buy in the range.
The 2016 is 90% Tempranillo and 10% Graciano, the fruit drawn from old parcels in Villalba, Briñas and Rodezno. It spent four years in used American oak built by the bodega's own coopers, racked by hand every six months. That long, gentle ageing is what gives the wine its handwriting.
Critics back the style. Tim Atkin MW called the 2016 "gloriously, even defiantly, traditional" and scored it 95 points, while James Suckling went to 97. Both flag the same thing: this is a wine built for the long game.
My note on the 2016, condensed to the descriptors that matter.
The note
In the glass it is medium ruby fading to a brick rim, already showing its years without looking tired.
The nose is the heart of it. Dried cherry first, then the sweet signature of American oak, dill and coconut, the marker of classic Rioja. Underneath sit leather, tobacco leaf and a balsamic lift that keeps the whole thing fresh rather than heavy.
On the palate it is medium-bodied and fine. The tannins are sculpted, the acidity is bright, and the fruit leans savoury, more dried red fruit than jammy. There is a faint tar and mushroom note that I love and some people won't. It finishes long, dry and a little austere, which is the point. This is not a crowd-pleaser. It is a wine that rewards attention.
If you have only met modern, oak-heavy Rioja, the 904 will read as a different grammar entirely. For the vocabulary behind the label, our guide to reading a Spanish wine label breaks down what Gran Reserva actually promises.
The window and a pairing
The 2016 was bottled in May 2021 with a drinking window of 2025 to 2040. So you can pull a cork tonight, but you are catching it at the start of its run. It will keep evolving comfortably into the late 2030s, trading primary fruit for more leather, dried fig and forest floor.
If you open one now, decant it for an hour and pair it with roast lamb, a mature Manchego, or wild mushrooms. The savoury, balsamic side of the wine wants savoury food, not sweet glazes.
A bottle like this is exactly why I keep a tasting log. WineNest lets you record the nose, palate and your own score against the specific vintage, so when you open the next 904 you can see how the 2016 compared and whether your own window is moving earlier or later than the critics'.
Knowing when a Gran Reserva is ready is half the pleasure. Our breakdown of Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva drinking windows and the wider beginner's guide to drinking windows explain how to read the runway on any Rioja, not just this one.
Download WineNest to log your own note on the 904, then let the app remind you when the next bottle hits its stride.