Winemaker Notes
#65 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2008
A blend of 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha, 10% Mazuelo, and Graciano
This is the only winery left in Spain that uses only oak throughout the entire vinification process, which is very traditional and artisanal. They have their own cooperage and import the oak directly from the United States and France.
Aged for 6 months in wooden vats, 2 years in new 60% French and 40% American oak barrels and at least 12 months in bottles.
"The 2004 Muga Reserva is dark ruby-colored with an enticing nose of pain grille, pencil lead, crushed stone, and blackberry. This leads to an elegant wine with layers of flavor, several years of aging potential, and a lengthy finish."
Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate
93 Points
Hailed as the star red variety in Spain’s most celebrated wine region, Tempranillo from Rioja, or simply labeled, “Rioja,” produces elegant wines with complex notes of red and black fruit, crushed rock, leather, toast and tobacco, whose best examples are fully capable of decades of improvement in the cellar.
Rioja wines are typically a blend of fruit from its three sub-regions: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental, although specific sub-region (zonas), village (municipios) and vineyard (viñedo singular) wines can now be labeled. Rioja Alta and Alavesa, at the highest elevations, are considered to be the source of the brightest, most elegant fruit, while grapes from the warmer and drier, Rioja Oriental, produce wines with deep color, great body and richness.