La Rioja Alta, S.A. · Rioja
Traditional Gran Reserva · cedar · tea · dried fruit · long and elegant
Gran Reserva 890 is an old-school Rioja reference point: long ageing, patient release and a flavour profile shaped as much by time as by fruit.
Country
Spain
Region
Rioja
Appellation
Rioja DOCa Gran Reserva
Grapes
Tempranillo · Mazuelo · Graciano
Style
Red
Realistic spend
£140–£190
Budget band: £100–£200
Best moments
Works especially well for an old-soul birthday, Christmas table or anniversary dinner.
Why this wine matters
The 2011 release in our current feed is built around 95% Tempranillo with small amounts of Mazuelo and Graciano. La Rioja Alta matured the selected wines for six years in barrel with ten traditional rackings before bottling.
How it is made
The long barrel and bottle programme is the point rather than an incidental detail. It lets primary fruit move toward cedar, spice, balsamic and dried-fruit complexity while retaining the freshness needed to keep the wine alive.
What does it taste like?
The producer’s 2011 notes move through candied dark plum and raisin into cedar, tea leaf, cinnamon, dark chocolate, vanilla, pepper and nutmeg, with polished tannin and a long balsamic-spiced finish.
Serve it well
Treat it gently: stand an older bottle upright before opening, decant for sediment if needed, and serve around 17–18°C.
If this wine were human…
If Gran Reserva 890 were human, it would be patient, layered and suspicious of anything described as “instant”.
Does any of this sound suspiciously familiar?
Patient, layered and suspicious of anything described as “instant”. You enjoy discovering that the quietest person at the table is usually the most interesting one.
At dinner, you can rescue an awkward silence with one question and then let everyone else take the credit. Secretly, you are delighted when somebody else spots the detail you were hoping they would notice.
In short: patient, layered and suspicious of anything described as “instant”. traditional gran reserva energy, translated into a person.
Purely for fun — this is the wine’s fictional personality, not a psychological reading of yours.
What to eat with it
And the cheese?
Start with this wine and move straight into cheese, or build a whole tasting around it.
Keep exploring
There are 365 more wines where this came from.
This profile is researched against producer or similarly authoritative material. Vintage-specific details are kept separate from the permanent wine identity.
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