La Rioja Alta Winery
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The La Rioja Alta winery was founded in 1890 in the Rioja Alta in Haro and is one of the few that has maintained a classic line to this day, while at the same time embracing modernity, making it one of the most famous wine brands in the world.
In 2025, when the prestigious Drinks Business magazine was looking for the most appreciated wine brand in the world, La Rioja Alta was voted in third place. This is absolutely remarkable, because it shows that a winery that is committed to a long tradition and is famous for very classic wines can enjoy great international esteem. La Rioja Alta stands for continuity at the highest level and at the same time for the fact that one does not have to close oneself off to modernity.
The story began in 1890, when five families from the Basque Country founded the "Sociedad Vinícola de La Rioja Alta" in the railway station district of Haro. The first president at the time was - quite unusually - a woman: Doña Saturnina García Cid y Gárate. The Frenchman Vigier was the first winemaker of the house, which was less unusual, as Rioja was developing into the "Bordeaux" of Spain at the time. His first wine was to be the "Reserva 1890", which later became the "Gran Reserva 890". In 1904, the winery changed, as Don Alfredo Ardanza, co-founder of La Rioja Alta and owner of the Ardanza winery, proposed the merger of the two companies. At that time, the "Reserva 1904" was bottled for the first time, from which the "Gran Reserva 904" emerged.
In addition to this classic line, modern Riojas have also been created over time, for which another winery was acquired in 1995: Torre de Oña in Páganos in Rioja Alavesa. The first wine was the Barón de Oña Reserva 1989. At the same time, work was carried out on a new winery for the classic wines, which was inaugurated in Labastida in 1996 and took the processing of the grapes and the creation of the wines to a new level.
Today, wine lovers all over the world place their trust in this winery, not least because affordable top-quality wines have been produced here at a consistently high level for more than 100 years. Another reason may be that the wines only come onto the market when they are ready to drink - but then still have storage potential for decades. The "Viña Ardanza" and "Viña Arana" Reservas both mature for two years in barriques. The Gran Reservas "904" and "890" are aged for as long as the cellar master sees fit. The wines are matured traditionally in American oak barrels, produced in the company's own cooperage. This puts them in line with the two other Rioja classics, Viña Tondonia and Castillo Ygay. They are representatives of a long Rioja tradition that are among the world's great wines.
© Images: Winery La Rioja Alta
