The epitome of "old-school style" Rioja (Wine Spectator), La Rioja Alta is a bastion for a classical approach to Rioja that celebrates the quality of each vintage with patient cellar ageing.

There is no producer better suited to the 2010 vintage, widely regarded as one of the region’s very finest vintages in recent memory. Julio Saenz, head winemaker at La Rioja Alta, called it "spectacular" – a description which is well and truly borne out in the newly released Viña Ardanza 2010.

Even more impressive, the vintage was so good it was declared 'Selección Especial' by the winemakers. A title only awarded to wines and vintages that rank among the best ever made. For La Rioja Alta, this is the fourth vintage of Ardanza in 77 years to earn the title.

That title places it alongside the legendary 1964, 1973, and 2001, so you might expect it to hit the market with something of a premium, yet it is available today for just £210 IB per dozen.

A long-time favourite of many in the trade, it is one of the best points-per-£s values we've ever come across. Aged for 10 years at the winery, Viña Ardanza could qualify as a Gran Reserva, but in order to keep the wine at this remarkable price-point it is labelled as a simple Reserva.

It is beautifully mature; with James Suckling saying the effect is "mesmerising... like going back in time and touching an ornate tapestry", while the Wine Advocate's Luis Gutierrez puts it very plainly, exalting it as "a great Ardanza!"