This stuff rocks! It's been several years since we have featured the wines of La Rioja Alta, and we are so glad to have them back in stock, especially this 2018 Vina Alberdi. Rioja lovers are going to flip over this, and so will new world wine fans. At $19.99, the value here is majorly off the charts!
James Suckling: 93 Points
(10/14/2021) "A pretty nose of raspberries, cassis, fresh herbs, vanilla and sweet spices. It's medium-bodied with round tannins. Creamy and fruity with chocolatey character on the mid-palate. Supple finish with excellent length. Tangy acidity. 100% tempranillo. Drink or hold."
John Gilman: 92+ Points
(5/1/2023) "The 2018 Vina Alberdi 'Reserva' from La Rioja Alta is fairly ripe in the style of the vintage, coming in at 14.5 percent alcohol, but it is fresh, vibrant and quite classically proportioned on both the nose and palate. The bouquet is beautiful, wafting from the glass in a mix of raspberries, cherries, cloves, a touch of smoked meats, salty soil tones, cigar wrapper and a nice touch of American oak. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and complex, with good soil signature, a lovely core of red fruit, fine-grained tannins and a long, tangy and beautifully balanced finish. This is a lovely old school bottle of Rioja and an outstanding value!"
Wine Advocate: 92 Points
(7/14/2022) "Their young and fresh red 2018 Vina Alberdi, already a Reserva (Crianza in Spain), matured in oak barrel for two years--in new barrels for the first year and in used barrels for the second year. During the elevage, they racked the wine manually from barrel to barrel four times. 2018 was a year of lower alcohol and more freshness in the wines, and they thought the wines were not designed for the long haul; so, they didn't produce any other wine, and so the only wine from 2018 IS VINA ALBERDI! Which means that all the Tempranillo grapes that were destined for 890, 904 and all the other wines went to this wine. They didn't use the Garnacha (which was sold in bulk). So, this is a super- Vina Alberdi, which shows more Crianza style in this cooler vintage but with very good depth and complexity, perhaps a more modern and fresher style. The wine has a seamless palate and a juicy texture, with more color than other vintages, more intensity, more fruit... It has grapes from very good vineyards and poor soils that were never destined for this wine. Highly recommendable and very versatile. It has potential to age. Drink Date: 2022 - 2028."
