La Rioja Alta. Arguably consistently the best producers in Rioja. I’ve worked with these wines as a Wine Professional for years and now I’m beyond excited to have a vehicle to introduce them to clients.

Scores: 95 James Suckling 

Historically Vina Arana (formally known as 5 Año) was in the Reserva line of wines from La Rioja Alta. Around 2011 the winery started to taste older Vina Arana wines and realized that the wines were aging just as well as 904 and 890. So when the fruit came in for the 2012 vintage wines the decision was made to elevate this wine to Gran Reserva status. Like Ardanza this wine was always treated as a Gran reserva wine. Meaning it was always ages a total of minimum of 5 years before it was released. But now it is official. 95% Tempranillo 5%Graciano aged 3 years in 2nd use American oak and 3 Years in bottle. The beauty is this wine is great out of the gate and has lots of potential to age for a while longer.