La Rioja Alta Viña Ardanza Selección Especial Reserva 2010

One of Ardanza's finest hours. The blend, 80% Tempranillo from La Cuesta and Montecillo, 20% Grenache from La Pedriza in Rioja Baja, was deemed exceptional enough internally to earn elevation from Reserva Especial to Selección Especial status, and the wine earns it. On the nose: crushed strawberry, worn saddle leather, a trace of game, and a quietly Burgundian earthiness that deepens with air. Chestnut, black truffle, and sweet spice fill out a palate shaped by 36 months in four-year-old American oak, integrated without a seam showing, the wood lending structure rather than flavour. The finish fans out long and unhurried. Harmonious and almost disarmingly easy to drink, yet with enough architecture to reward further patience.