Bodegas Muga Reserva 2021

Critical Acclaim: 94 pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate; 93 pts James Suckling; 92 pts Wine Spectator.

About the Winery: The Muga family has 420 hectares of vineyards, and they do not use herbicides or insecticides.  Bodegas Muga is Rioja Alta’s premier producer and the Muga family are unanimously considered to be one of Spain’s most important winemaking families. The winery has practically legendary status due to its philosophy revolving around adherence to tradition, dynamism, and winemaking of the highest quality. Indeed, it is the only wine cellar in Spain which employs its own master cooper and coopers, who make all the vats for the cellar as well as the oak casks. Few producers in the world fashion wines that have such a sense of tradition and place as Muga’s. 

Winemaker's Tasting Notes: This 2021 vintage has a bright ruby-red colour, with medium depth and a garnet-tinged rim. On the nose you discover an intense, complex wine. Aromas of wild fruits of the forest (blackberries and blueberries) come to the fore, with hints of spices. On the palate it is long, elegant and nicely balanced. Its sharp acidity is perfectly integrated and it has soft tannins. The finish is very long and full of fruit. Perfect for drinking now but, thanks to its good balance and structure, it can be kept in the bottle
for several years.

"The grapes for the 2021 Reserva (sold as Crianza in Spain), mostly Tempranillo with some Garnacha Tinta, Mazuelo and Graciano, were picked late in a cooler year when they finished the harvest the 20th of October, with plenty of times for the grapes to develop full aromas and flavors and complete ripeness. It fermented destemmed and lightly crushed in oak vats with indigenous yeasts, separating qualities, villages and soils, and matured in 80% French and 20% American oak barrels, 20% of them new, for 24 months, with racking every eight to nine months. It's a textbook example of their style in a very good year, with power, concentration and clout, elegance and freshness. It was a very harmonious year; the cycle was long and the tannins ripened to perfection. It's terrific and more so for the volume they produce (984,000 bottles of it). It was fined with egg whites and bottled in January 2024."- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate. 

"A plush yet fresh Rioja showing blackberries, dark plums, fine spices, cocoa powder and a touch of roasted red chile peppers. Medium- to full-bodied and juicy, with firm, fine-grained tannins and a long, bright finish showing some graphite, blackberries and dark chocolate. Tempranillo, garnacha, graciano and mazuelo. Drink now or hold." -James Suckling.

"This is fresh and minerally up front, opening to reveal a fine mesh of chopped cherry and plum skin flavors, with fragrant hints of ground coffee, smoked paprika and dried marjoram. Sculpted tannins define the long, slightly chewy finish. Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano. Drink now through 2035."- Wine Spectator.

Serving Suggestion: This wine will be an excellent accompaniment to meat dishes like a ribeye steak, as well as with charcuterie.

Varietal: 70% Tempranillo, 30% Grenache, Mazuelo and Graciano.