Viña Alberdi Reserva

Viña Alberdi is the youngest of La Rioja Alta's classic Haro reds, the bottle the house once summed up as fresh, young pleasure. It was a Crianza through the 1994 vintage and has been a Reserva since 1995. In exceptional years the house adds a title of its own, Selección Especial, and it has given it only twice: to 2001 and to 2021. The 2020 is a Reserva without the extra title.

The fruit comes from the house's own vineyards in Rodezno and Labastida, vines around forty years old at 500 to 600 metres on clay-limestone. It is picked by hand into boxes, with the bunches sorted in the vineyard, and travels to the winery refrigerated. After optical sorting, both fermentations start on their own.

Then come two years in American oak barrels that the house makes in its own cooperage, new for the first year and four years old for the second. The wine is racked four times, barrel to barrel, by candlelight, the old way. This one went into bottle in June 2023.

The house describes 2020 as a long growing season that let the grapes reach full ripeness.

Barrels made at home, racking by candlelight, and still the everyday Reserva of the range.