La Rioja Alta Rioja Viña Ardanza Reserva 2016

95 points James Suckling: "Savory and complex with dried orange peel, cedar and plenty of sweet spices, walnuts, caramel, dried mushrooms and pine needles. Shows maturity here, with a medium body and superb freshness. Incredibly long finish with lots of truffle and walnut. Lasts over a minute. Very complete now, but you can still hold it. (11/20/22)"

95 points/'Podium Award,' Peñín Guide to Spanish Wine: "(tempranillo, garnacha). Colour: dark-red cherry, garnet rim. Nose: ripe fruit, fruit preserve, aged wood nuances, tobacco, sweet spices, scrubland. Palate: spicy, round tannins, long, flavourful, elegant. (2023)"

94+ points Luis Gutiérrez (Wine Advocate): "The 2016 Viña Ardanza Reserva was produced with 80% Tempranillo and 20% Garnacha that matured in used American oak barrels for three years, where it was hand-racked from barrel to barrel six times in the case of Tempranillo and five times for the Garnacha, as it had a slightly shorter élevage of 30 months. Against all odds, I found the 2016 to be fresher than the 2015 and less developed, despite the fact that winemaker Julio Sáenz told me he considers it a warmer year. But I have found many wines I like in 2016, and the wine feels very clean and quite harmonious, younger and less developed, with more primary notes and a velvety mouthfeel. The wine was bottled in June 2020. Drink: 2022-2032. (Jul 2022)"

94 points Tim Atkin, MW: "Ardanza is a traditional pan-regional Rioja that marries Tempranillo from Cenicero and Rodezno with 20% Garnacha from Tudelilla. Aged in lightly toasted American barrels, it's sweet, spicy and complex, with leather, wild strawberry and red pepper notes, fine, scented oak and the freshness of the vintage. 2024-32. (2023)"

93 points Wine Spectator: "[$45 list] An intriguing red, with steeped raspberry, balsamico, dried black cherry, iron and iodine aromas and flavors. Silky on the palate and finely knit, this is a rich, medium-bodied red that offers supple tannins. A lovely example of Rioja in a more traditional style, this should open well in the decanter or with time in the cellar. Tempranillo and Garnacha. Best from 2025 through 2033. (2023)"

93 points John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "La Rioja Alta’s 2016 Viña Ardanza “Reserva” is composed in this vintage from a cépages of eighty percent tempranillo and twenty percent garnacha. The wine is raised entirely in four yearold American oak casks for three years prior to bottling. The wine comes in at 14.5 percent alcohol in the 2016 vintage and offers up a deep and complex bouquet of black raspberries, cloves, cigar wrapper, incipient meatiness, black tea, a fine base of soil, just a touch of lavender and cedary oak. On the palate the wine is ripe, full-bodied and focused, with excellent depth at the core, ripe, chewy tannins, lovely balance and a long, complex and very promising finish. In a pinch, I would have no problems drinking this lovely wine today, but it does really deserve some more bottle aging to soften up its tannins a bit more and really blossom. It is a fine bottle in the making. 2028-2075. (May/Jun 2023)"