Marqués de Murrieta Reserva Finca Ygay Rioja Tempranillo Blend 2018

96 Point Rioja                                                     One of Rioja's finest Riservas from Marques de Murrieta. 96 Points James Suckling: "Incredible depth and intensity on the nose with chocolate, walnut, blackberry and wet-earth aromas. Some iodine, too. All this follows through to a full body with very silky tannins that give the wine depth and length. It’s really framed beautifully. Reserved and tight at the finish. A terrific wine for the cellar. Give this three to five years to open." 94 Points Decanter: "A great classic, with a unique Rioja character, bursting with chewy red fruits, counterpointed by minerality. Reconciling power and finesse, pleasure and style. Warm and intense. Benchmark for wines of style, high-end brands. Leaves a vibrant memory." 93 Points Robert Parker: "The red Murietta Rioja Reserva is their flagship wine, produced exclusively from grapes from their 300 hectares of estate vineyards. It's a blend of 83% Tempranillo, 9% Graciano, 6% Mazuelo (Cariñena) and 2% Garnacha and has the character of the vintage, ripe and warm but without excess. The varieties fermented separately, even different plots fermented separately, and they also aged in barrel on their own. The blend is done at the end, after 20 months in American oak barrels. The wine is quite lactic and creamy, still showing very young.The wine has concentration and clout, and I always consider it an ultimate example of an updated classical Reserva from Rioja. 2017 was the earliest harvest (started and finished in September), a warm and dry year when the Ygay estate miraculously escaped the terrible frost that decimated most of Europe. The challenge for this wine was to contain the ripeness and power, and they have done it. This will be released in spring 2021, so it should be a lot more integrated by then. This is always a sure value. Volumes are lower this year." Though it's one of the oldest Rioja bodegas, dating back to the mid-19th century, Marqués de Murrieta has not rested on its laurels. They continue to produce excellent wines that are big hits with their customers and critics alike. They farm all their own grapes on their large, contiguous vineyard just outside of Logroño, which boasts old vines, a variety of soils from chalky clay to very stony parcels, and a climate that particularly favors not only Tempranillo but some of the region's finest Mazuelo.

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