We had the recent pleasure of presenting a Spanish food and wine pairing exercise to the members of Innis Arden in North Seattle this past week. Below are some notes on one of the wines we presented. Enjoy!

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2000 La Rioja Alta Viña Ardanza Reserva Especial, Rioja, Spain

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tasting note
The nose is dominated by red and black fruits: sour cherry, black cherry and red currant. Very complex nose of leather, iron, vanilla, cinnamon, clove, sweet tobacco and dried red flowers. This wine has nice structure, with bright acidity and velvety tannins supporting the fruit. It is full bodied and finishes with great length.
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harvest
2000 was a very good vintage for Rioja. Warm temperatures and dry weather allowed for great ripening and discouraged vine diseases and pests. September was particularly dry, which ensured that the grapes would be able to develop complexity on the vine. The harvest began during the first week of October, and the grapes came into the winery with excellent sugar levels, great color development, and ripe tannins.
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varieties
80% Tempranillo from the 30-year old Viña Ardanza estate in Rioja Alta
20% Garnacha from Ausejo and Tudelilla, in Rioja Baja.
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aging
Alcoholic fermentation: 14 days in stainless steel at a maximum temperature of 28 C.
Malolactic fermentation: 21 days
Racking : wine was transferred to American oak casks in March, 2001.
Oak regime: 36 months in 4 year old American oak casks, which were an average of 4 years old.
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Alcohol: 13.2 % abv
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