La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904 2011 (1x75cl)

Gran Reserva 904 is the wine most often given as the answer to "what is the best value fine wine in the world?" — and the reason is the ageing.

What Gran Reserva means. Spanish law grades Rioja by time, not by vineyard. Gran Reserva requires years in oak barrel followed by years in bottle before the wine may be released. La Rioja Alta goes well beyond the minimum: 904 spends around four years in American oak, racked by hand, and then further years in bottle in the cellar.

Why that matters. You are buying a wine with more than a decade of age on it, already at its peak, at a normal price. Almost nowhere else in the world can do this — everywhere else, a decade-old wine costs what a decade of storage costs.

The style. Tempranillo-led. Silky rather than powerful, with the dried-fruit, vanilla and leather character that long American oak ageing gives. It is a gentle wine, not a big one.

When to drink it. Now — no decanting needed, though thirty minutes does no harm. Roast lamb, jamón, hard sheep's cheese, roast pork.

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