96/100 Wine Enthusiast 95/100 Robert Parker 95/100 Tim Atkin 94/100 James Suckling 94/100 Jeb Dunnuck 94/100 Guia Penin 92/100 WIne Spectator 90/100 CellarTracker 96/100 Tim Atkin (2016 vintage) 96/100 Wine & Spirit (2016 vintage) 95/100 James Suckling (2016 vintage) 95/100 Wine Enthusiast (2016 vintage) 94+/100 Robert Parker (2016 vintage) 94/100 Jeb Dunnuck (2016 vintage) 94/100 Vinous (2016 vintage) 94/100 Guia Penin (2016 vintage) 92/100 Wine Spectator (2016 vintage) 91/100 CellarTracker (2016 vintage)
Tim Atkin, The Rioja Report 2016 'Wine of the Year'
70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha, and the rest Graciano and Mazuelo
Tim Atkin, Rioja Report 2016, 2019, 2021 "Amongst the best rated Rioja wines."
Wine Enthusiast "Deep ruby in the glass, this wine offers a bouquet of black cherry, blackberry and licorice. Flavors of black currant, pomegranate, anisette, dark chocolate and black truffle are supported by plush tannins that drift into a cherry-tobacco finish."
Robert Parker "a cooler vintage, with a fairly long maturation, which made the wines somewhat fresher and less alcoholic, as showcased by the 2018 Selección Especial, a classical blend of the four red varieties from Rioja, Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano with contained ripeness (14.05% alcohol) and good freshness. It fermented in oak casks with indigenous yeasts and matured in French oak barrels, 40% of them new, for 26 months. They were not very happy with the vintage and had to sort and discard, but as they didn't produce Prado Enea, Torre Muga or Haro, those grapes went into this wine. They are reluctant about 2018, but I think it was a vintage capable of the best and the worst, and this 2018 is floral, expressive and elegant. It's medium to full- bodied, with very fine, chalky tannins, combining power and elegance. Amazing!"
James Suckling "Fresh and dried cherries, oyster shells, spice box and dried herbs on the nose. Flint stone, too. Structured, mineral and very fresh with tight and fine-grained tannins and a medium body. Vibrant and fragrant. Lightly austere at the end. Smaller production and greater selection this year - only Rioja Reserva and Seleccion Especial made."
Jeb Dunnuck "It shows the fresher style of the vintage yet has good richness in its cassis and black raspberry fruit profile as well as notes of tobacco leaf, violets, and spicy oak. Straight-up gorgeous on the palate, it shines for its purity, has ultra-fine tannins, and a great finish. I'm a fan."
WIne Spectator "A medium- to full-bodied red, well-knit and harmonious, showing a fine, tense frame of chalky tannins fleshed out by crushed black raspberry, balsamico, dried fig and deep notes of ground coffee, iron and smoke. Long and lively on the herbal, spiced finish. Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano."
Wine & Spirit "...with cool, silken tannins and the sort of peppery spice you might find in fresh-pressed olive oil. It’s bright and juicy, layering thyme and rosemary fragrance into the fruit complexity. " (2016 vintage)
James Suckling "Delicious, succulent finish. Plenty of subtle fruit and supple tannins take you to where you want to go in fine Rioja red......A very pretty, manicured young red with plum, berry and dark-chocolate character. Medium body and round tannins that are focused and firm." (2016 vintage)
Wine Enthusiast "This wine has a nose of raspberry and orange zest, with a hint of juniper. It offers flavors of blackberry, pomegranate, cocoa powder, rose petal and flint wrapped up in skein of plush tannins. An undercurrent of orange zest meanders into a spicy finish." (2016 vintage)
Robert Parker "This is serious and has freshness and some restraint in the palate; it’s much more expressive, floral and aromatic and with more-integrated oak than the wines from five+ years ago. It’s a more elegant vintage than the 2015 and every bit as good, or a tad better. Winemaker Isaac Muga considers 2016 a very good harvest. It was bottled in April 2019. This is among the best vintages of Selección Especial.” (2016 vintage)
Jeb Dunnuck "Always a terrific wine....Almost Rhône-like with its spicy, meaty, gamey style, this beauty offers lots of red and black currants, cedary spice, incense, and tobacco aromas and flavors. It’s medium to full-bodied, has terrific balance, silky tannins, and is just a class act. .....beautiful vintage worth buying..." (2016 vintage)
Vinous "Dark ruby. Vibrant, smoke- and spice-accented cherry and cassis aromas show very good clarity and a hint of candied rose. Sappy, penetrating and focused on the palate, offering finely etched and appealingly sweet dark berry, cherry cola and spicecake flavors along with a subtle chewing tobacco nuance. Closes impressively long and lively, with resonating florality and chewy, youthfully gripping tannins adding final grip.” (2016 vintage)
Bodegas Muga is Spain's most famous wine region, Rioja Alta’s premier producer. The Muga family are unanimously considered to be one of Spain’s most important winemaking families. Founded in 1932 in the Rioja region of Spain, the winery is known for its traditional style Reserva wines that are only produced in vintages of extremely superior quality. The famous bodega has approximately 250 hectares (617 acres) of vineyards around Rioja a majority of which are around the town of Haro where the winery is based. Fruit for the top wines tends to come from the family’s original Baltracones vineyard, where the chalky, alluvial soils are well-suited to Tempranillo and Garnacha. Bodegas Muga is the only winery in Spain, and one of only six wine estate's in the world that owns its own cooperage. It imports oak for its barrels directly from the United States and France and employs its own master cooper who is assisted by a team of three barrel makers. Bodegas Muga winemaking process is carried out with 100% indigenous yeasts and its red wines are fined naturally with egg whites.
Rioja in Northern Spain is arguably Spain's top wine region. It is best known for berry-scented, barrel-aged red wines made from Tempranillo and Garnacha. Rioja has 3 official sub-regional growing areas and they are Rioja Alta, Rioja Baja and Rioja Alavesa. Although it’s uncommon to find wines labeled with these names, it’s very common to hear aficionados talk of the greatness of Rioja Alta or Rioja Alavesa, due to their position higher up in the Rioja Valley and their predominance of a particular soil type called calcareous clay which produces wines with greater aging ability. And while it’s true that many of the great wines or Rioja come from these 2 areas, you can still find incredible wines from Rioja Baja, depending on the producer and the vineyard’s position within the region.
Rioja is the infamous wine named after the region of La Rioja in Northern Spain. La Rioja is most famous for its wines made with Tempranillo grapes that grow well in the region’s dry climate.
96/100 Wine Enthusiast 95/100 Robert Parker 95/100 Tim Atkin 94/100 James Suckling 94/100 Jeb Dunnuck 94/100 Guia Penin 92/100 WIne Spectator 90/100 CellarTracker 96/100 Tim Atkin (2016 vintage) 96/100 Wine & Spirit (2016 vintage) 95/100 James Suckling (2016 vintage) 95/100 Wine Enthusiast (2016 vintage) 94+/100 Robert Parker (2016 vintage) 94/100 Jeb Dunnuck (2016 vintage) 94/100 Vinous (2016 vintage) 94/100 Guia Penin (2016 vintage) 92/100 Wine Spectator (2016 vintage) 91/100 CellarTracker (2016 vintage)
Tim Atkin, The Rioja Report 2016 'Wine of the Year'
70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha, and the rest Graciano and Mazuelo
Tim Atkin, Rioja Report 2016, 2019, 2021 "Amongst the best rated Rioja wines."
Wine Enthusiast "Deep ruby in the glass, this wine offers a bouquet of black cherry, blackberry and licorice. Flavors of black currant, pomegranate, anisette, dark chocolate and black truffle are supported by plush tannins that drift into a cherry-tobacco finish."
Robert Parker "a cooler vintage, with a fairly long maturation, which made the wines somewhat fresher and less alcoholic, as showcased by the 2018 Selección Especial, a classical blend of the four red varieties from Rioja, Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano with contained ripeness (14.05% alcohol) and good freshness. It fermented in oak casks with indigenous yeasts and matured in French oak barrels, 40% of them new, for 26 months. They were not very happy with the vintage and had to sort and discard, but as they didn't produce Prado Enea, Torre Muga or Haro, those grapes went into this wine. They are reluctant about 2018, but I think it was a vintage capable of the best and the worst, and this 2018 is floral, expressive and elegant. It's medium to full- bodied, with very fine, chalky tannins, combining power and elegance. Amazing!"
James Suckling "Fresh and dried cherries, oyster shells, spice box and dried herbs on the nose. Flint stone, too. Structured, mineral and very fresh with tight and fine-grained tannins and a medium body. Vibrant and fragrant. Lightly austere at the end. Smaller production and greater selection this year - only Rioja Reserva and Seleccion Especial made."
Jeb Dunnuck "It shows the fresher style of the vintage yet has good richness in its cassis and black raspberry fruit profile as well as notes of tobacco leaf, violets, and spicy oak. Straight-up gorgeous on the palate, it shines for its purity, has ultra-fine tannins, and a great finish. I'm a fan."
WIne Spectator "A medium- to full-bodied red, well-knit and harmonious, showing a fine, tense frame of chalky tannins fleshed out by crushed black raspberry, balsamico, dried fig and deep notes of ground coffee, iron and smoke. Long and lively on the herbal, spiced finish. Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano."
Wine & Spirit "...with cool, silken tannins and the sort of peppery spice you might find in fresh-pressed olive oil. It’s bright and juicy, layering thyme and rosemary fragrance into the fruit complexity. " (2016 vintage)
James Suckling "Delicious, succulent finish. Plenty of subtle fruit and supple tannins take you to where you want to go in fine Rioja red......A very pretty, manicured young red with plum, berry and dark-chocolate character. Medium body and round tannins that are focused and firm." (2016 vintage)
Wine Enthusiast "This wine has a nose of raspberry and orange zest, with a hint of juniper. It offers flavors of blackberry, pomegranate, cocoa powder, rose petal and flint wrapped up in skein of plush tannins. An undercurrent of orange zest meanders into a spicy finish." (2016 vintage)
Robert Parker "This is serious and has freshness and some restraint in the palate; it’s much more expressive, floral and aromatic and with more-integrated oak than the wines from five+ years ago. It’s a more elegant vintage than the 2015 and every bit as good, or a tad better. Winemaker Isaac Muga considers 2016 a very good harvest. It was bottled in April 2019. This is among the best vintages of Selección Especial.” (2016 vintage)
Jeb Dunnuck "Always a terrific wine....Almost Rhône-like with its spicy, meaty, gamey style, this beauty offers lots of red and black currants, cedary spice, incense, and tobacco aromas and flavors. It’s medium to full-bodied, has terrific balance, silky tannins, and is just a class act. .....beautiful vintage worth buying..." (2016 vintage)
Vinous "Dark ruby. Vibrant, smoke- and spice-accented cherry and cassis aromas show very good clarity and a hint of candied rose. Sappy, penetrating and focused on the palate, offering finely etched and appealingly sweet dark berry, cherry cola and spicecake flavors along with a subtle chewing tobacco nuance. Closes impressively long and lively, with resonating florality and chewy, youthfully gripping tannins adding final grip.” (2016 vintage)
Bodegas Muga is Spain's most famous wine region, Rioja Alta’s premier producer. The Muga family are unanimously considered to be one of Spain’s most important winemaking families. Founded in 1932 in the Rioja region of Spain, the winery is known for its traditional style Reserva wines that are only produced in vintages of extremely superior quality. The famous bodega has approximately 250 hectares (617 acres) of vineyards around Rioja a majority of which are around the town of Haro where the winery is based. Fruit for the top wines tends to come from the family’s original Baltracones vineyard, where the chalky, alluvial soils are well-suited to Tempranillo and Garnacha. Bodegas Muga is the only winery in Spain, and one of only six wine estate's in the world that owns its own cooperage. It imports oak for its barrels directly from the United States and France and employs its own master cooper who is assisted by a team of three barrel makers. Bodegas Muga winemaking process is carried out with 100% indigenous yeasts and its red wines are fined naturally with egg whites.
Rioja in Northern Spain is arguably Spain's top wine region. It is best known for berry-scented, barrel-aged red wines made from Tempranillo and Garnacha. Rioja has 3 official sub-regional growing areas and they are Rioja Alta, Rioja Baja and Rioja Alavesa. Although it’s uncommon to find wines labeled with these names, it’s very common to hear aficionados talk of the greatness of Rioja Alta or Rioja Alavesa, due to their position higher up in the Rioja Valley and their predominance of a particular soil type called calcareous clay which produces wines with greater aging ability. And while it’s true that many of the great wines or Rioja come from these 2 areas, you can still find incredible wines from Rioja Baja, depending on the producer and the vineyard’s position within the region.
Rioja is the infamous wine named after the region of La Rioja in Northern Spain. La Rioja is most famous for its wines made with Tempranillo grapes that grow well in the region’s dry climate.
