2013 Bodegas Riojanas Vina Albina Rioja Gran Reserva is sold out.

Sign up to receive notifications when wines from this producer become available

Iconic producer’s rare Gran Reserva, hitting its stride

Wine Bottle
  • 93 pts Decanter
    93 pts Decanter
  • Curated by unrivaled experts
  • Choose your delivery date
  • Temperature controlled shipping options
  • Get credited back if a wine fails to impress

2013 Bodegas Riojanas Vina Albina Rioja Gran Reserva 750 ml

Sold Out

Sign up to receive notifications when wines from this producer become available.
  • Curated by unrivaled experts
  • Choose your delivery date
  • Temperature controlled shipping options
  • Get credited back if a wine fails to impress

A Bastion of Tradition Shines in 2013

Gran Reserva Rioja never ceases to astound us.

Nowhere else in the world of fine wine can you find a perfectly aged, nine-year-old bottle that is the TOP offering of an iconic, 132-year-old producer—direct from the bodega, no less—for anything less than a fortune. That definitely ain’t happening in Bordeaux.

If you love stalwarts of Rioja craftsmanship like López de Heredia’s Viña Tondonia Gran Reserva ($60+) and CVNE’s Viña Real Gran Reserva ($54), the 2013 Bodegas Riojanas Viña Albina Rioja Gran Reserva is right in your wheelhouse. A maturing but still-youthful, elegantly rendered red, it’s just hitting its stride right now.

Bodegas Riojanas sits in the heart of Rioja Alta, in Cenicero, and was launched in 1890 during the glory years of the region. Here, the vineyards are prized for their combination of Rioja Alta’s elegance and structure with Rioja Alavesa’s power and fruit. Cenicero also sits far enough away from Haro, Rioja’s commercial center, that Riojanas maintains full control of their own wine production—not to mention the most prime sites around the town.

The bodega’s ability to realize the potential of those vineyards is thanks to winemaker emeritus Felipe Nalda—who Master of Wine Tim Atkin called a “Legend of Rioja” in 2020—and his nephew Emilio Sojo Nalda, who is the chief winemaker today. They ferment the wines in large, upright clay tinajas before aging them for three years in American oak barrica (barriques)—two crucial steps in the transformation of their powerful Tempranillo into the perfumed, multiaceted Viña Albina we taste today. Drink it now with a big plate of paella or hold it for another six years or so. Either way, you’ve locked in an excellent wine of meditation.