You can pay a lot more for Rioja but for many wine lovers Vina Ardanza from La Rioja Alta is always one of the top wines in the region, often putting far more expensive wines to shame. This is made from 78% tempranillo and 22% garnacha, the high percentage of the latter grape gives this its famous sweetness and perfume. The wine spends around four years in old American oak barrels before it was bottled in 2019. This will keep for a good few years but it's absolutely perfect now. It's a bit of cliche but there really is no better wine with lamb but it's also got the delicacy to go with all manner of vegetable dishes.
Lightly cooked strawberries and raspberries, aromatic floral and orange peel notes, soft ripe tannins leading to coconut, vanilla and tobacco.
