On July 10th 1890, five families sharing their passion for wine established La Rioja Alta, S.A. in Haro. This was the initial step towards an on-going pursuit of excellence in winemaking that is still today pursued with the very same enthusiasm by the founders’ descendants.
La Rioja Alta, S.A. owns more than 400 hectares of vineyards located in the most exclusive areas of Rioja. The Estate produces unique wines in a style that combines the traditional ageing process with state-of-the-art technology in the winery. This together with their experience, results in elegant, sophisticated and complex wines that are the greatest exponent of top end Rioja. La Rioja Alta, S.A. only produces red Wines in Rioja: Viña Alberdi, Viña Arana, Viña Ardanza, Gran Reserva 904 and Gran Reserva 890.
La Rioja Alta, S.A. makes all of its own barrels and has its own coopers on site. The barrels are made from oak imported from the United States (Ohio & Kuntucky) which are seasoned outdoors on the Estate. For La Rioja Alta, S.A. a great vineyard is the genesis of a great wine. Located in the best areas of Rioja, all the plots are rigorously maintained in order to check grape quality and obtain limited yields.
The 30,000 American oak casks are gently awakened every six months with cask-to-cask racking by candlelight. Each cask is individually monitored and the sediments naturally removed. This traditional hand racking process favours the wine’s evolution.
The winery conducts Research and Development programs in order to improve the quality of all the wines and to make them compatible with new gastronomic trends. As such the wines have adapted perfectly to the extraordinary gastronomic revolution of the past decade. Chefs, like Juan Mari Arzak, sommeliers and wine critics have no doubt about the fact that La Rioja Alta, S.A. wines are the universal reference point for quality Spanish wines. Their wines are present in everyone’s cellar and on the wine lists of the best restaurants worldwide. In addition, La Rioja Alta, S.A. is the first winery, and one of the few Spanish companies, to donate 0.7% of its yearly profits to Non-Governmental Organizations and to agricultural projects in developing countries. La Rioja Alta, S.A. also works on projects to minimize chemical treatments on the vines.
Today La Rioja Alta, S.A. has three subsidiaries: Lagar de Cervera (Rías Baixas), Torre de Oña (Rioja Alavesa) and Áster (Ribera del Duero), located in the most renowned wine regions in Spain. All of them share a drive to produce wines of maximum quality. The parent company, La Rioja Alta S.A., seduces with its timeless wines while Torre de Oña, Áster and Lagar de Cervera captivate with the modern character and personality of their privileged terroir wines. This is a winery…forever.
