Bodegas Muga - Reserva Rioja DOCa HALF BOTTLES 375ml 2020 (14.5% ABV)
Bodegas Muga is the only winery left in Spain that uses only oak throughout the entire process of elaboration of their wines. Muga has its own cooperage and directly importing American and French oak makes this possible. The winery manufactures about 2,000 barrels each year.
92 pts James Suckling
93 pts Wine Advocate
wild forest fruit, blueberry, blackberry, long and elegant with bright acidity and soft tannins, currant, plum, medium bodied, tobacco, smoke and ground coffee, cherry, black olive, orange peel and cocoa powder in this fresh and focused red. well-knit, with lightly chewy tannins firming the finish. Drink now through 2030
ruby-red with glints of brick-red, dried red fruit, spices, toasty oak, subtle vanilla bean, coffee, smooth, refined tannins, menthol, a complex pedigreed finish. masterful.
region: Rioja, Spain
varietal: 70% Tempranillo with bits of Graciano, Garnacha, and Mazuelo
style: red
farming/cellar: 7 day maceration, fermented and aged all in oak, light to medium toasting, aged for 24 months in oak (80% French and the rest are from central Europe and America). The wine is racked every four months by gravity and the use of candle to detect sediment. Fining is done by egg whites. The process takes over two months as the raft of egg whites sink to the bottom of the vat. This is a very expensive technique, but it succeeds in giving Muga reds a distinctive velvety textureÂ
pairing: ribeye, charcuterie,Â