Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2001 Torre Muga is an undeniably great wine. Still a deep purple color, on the palate it is densely packed, rich, and structured for the long haul. Give it another 8-10 years of cellaring and drink it through 2041.
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Wine & Spirits
The modern face of Muga, the 2001 Torre Muga shows substantial new oak and full extract that only serve to ramp up the pure pequillo pepper Rioja scent. That, plus the umami taste of woodland mushrooms, could serve as Spain on an IV. It has the structure to last for a decade or more, and the grace to drink now with arroz de ganso (goose rice), or something as simple as wild mushrooms flash roasted with garlic and olive oil.
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Wine Spectator
A bold, mouthfilling red with ripe, generous flavors of plum and black raspberry and notes of coffee, soy and tobacco. The tannins are well-integrated, and lively acidity lifts the flavors.
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.