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B-21 Top Recommendation
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Among “the best and most elevated wines in Spain” according to Decanter’s Tim Atkin, the elegant 94 pt. 2018 Marques de Murrieta Finca Ygay Reserva offers fresh, aromatic juicy fruit hinting of vanilla and earthy spice with bright acidity and supple, harmonious tannins, a superb value that fans of classically styled Rioja will want to scoop up.
Among Rioja’s most historic bodegas, Marques de Murrieta was founded in 1852, its impressive 150-year-old stone Ygay castle located at the end of a long drive surrounded by lawns and cypress trees southeast of the Rioja Alta towns of Haro and Elciego. Remaining in the Murrieta family for over a century until its purchase by Vicente Cebrian in 1983, Murrieta’s quality has soared over the last two decades under the direction of second-generation Vicente Dalmau Cebrian-Sagarriga, the wines produced in a massive new state of the art winery by long-term winemaker Maria Vargas beginning in 2018. One of the few wineries in the region sourcing their Rioja from all estate grown fruit, Murrieta’s 300-hectare Ygay vineyard (pronounced “E-guy”) is located on the southerly limit of Rioja Alta between 320 meters to 485 meters above sea level, its diverse range of soils, exposures and altitudes reflected in the Reserva’s rich complexity. Blending mostly Tempranillo with small amounts of Graziano, Mazuelo and Garnacha, winemaker Vargas aged the refined 2018 Marques de Murrieta Finca Ygay Reserva for 21 months in a mix of new and used American oak barrels and a year and a half in bottle, yielding bright fresh flavors with supple, silky tannins and a long-lasting finish, described as “effortlessly drinkable” by James Suckling and built for years of pleasurable drinking ahead.
Describing Murrieta as “one of the most classical names in Rioja” producing “eminently age-worthy reds,” the Wine Advocate’s Luis Gutierrez sums up the lush and enticing 94 pt. 2018 Marques de Murrieta Finca Ygay Reserva as “superb,” an expertly crafted Rioja built for years of enjoyment and ranking among Rioja’s finest values. |
99JS
97WA
96WS #1 Top 100
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Marvelous aromas of crushed berries, tobacco, cedar and mushrooms. Some dried cheese. Then turns to flowers. Very complex. Full and intense with fantastic depth and power. It goes on for minutes. It is a wine that exudes tradition but gives a sense of modernity with precise winemaking. Two years in oak, one in concrete and three or four in bottle. Drink on release and age onwards.
99 points, James Suckling (Mar 2020)
I had very high expectations for the 2010 Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial, and the wine delivered as expected. 2010 was one of the finest vintages in Rioja in recent years, and this blend of Tempranillo with 15% Mazuelo (Cariñena) has to be one of the finest modern day Castillo de Ygays. The grapes come from a plot planted in 1966 at 485 meters in altitude, the highest in the estate, and the vines yielded 3,500 kilos per hectare. The two varieties fermented separately in stainless steel for 11 days, and the wine spent 26 months in a mixture of American and French oak barrels. I tasted the 2009 next to this 2010, and I had also had a bottle two nights before. So, I was able to compare this with the 2009, which was a very different year, as 2010 was a cooler year and a priori a more adequate year for long-aging wines like this Gran Reserva. The difference was the vegetative cycle, as the vinification and élevage was the same. This is sleeker and sharper, less developed and livelier than the 2009, which already shows some signs of "old wine" with aromas that remind me of the old classical Rioja reds. It has greatness and finesse and is a very attractive wine with all the stuffing and balance that is needed for a long (and positive) aging in bottle. This is one of the finest modern day vintages of Castillo Ygay. This is going to develop in the direction of the classical bottlings from yesteryear. 130,853 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2015.
97 points, Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate (Issue # 243 - Jun 2019)
Maturing well, this round red is a lovely example of the traditional style. Orange peel, dried cherry, forest floor, vanilla and black tea flavors mingle harmoniously over round tannins and citrusy acidity. Generous but gentle, lively, balanced and harmonious. Tempranillo and Mazuelo. Drink now through 2030. 680 cases imported.
96 points, Thomas Matthews, Wine Spectator (Sep 2020)
#1 - Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2020
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