Marques De Murrieta Tinto Reserva 2018

Marqués de Murrieta Tinto Reserva, Rioja Alta, Spain, 2018     

Grapes: 86% Tempranillo, 2% Garnacha, 4% Mazuelo and 8% Graciano. Aged 20 months in 225 litre American oak barrels.

Producer Tasting Note: 

Refined aromas of plums, blueberries and redcurrants that led to a bed of spices, flowers and balsamic touches, so distinctive of our Ygay Estate. Succulent, round and well-balanced in the mouth. A muscular wine with great potential.

“The 2018 vintage marks a turning point and inaugurates a new era that represents the future for Marqués de Murrieta” María Vargas - Technical Director

Marqués de Murrieta Reserva is a traditional Rioja wine crafted in the classic Murrieta signature style and enjoying all the benefits of modern winemaking philosophy, equipment and techniques. Made from Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano, this wine embodies ripe fruit qualities with a perfect balance of acidity, supple roundness on the palate and a hint of new oak. 

Critics' Tasting Note:

"The flagship red 2018 Rioja Reserva was produced with a blend of 86% Tempranillo, 8% Graciano, 4% Mazuelo (a.k.a. Cariñena) and 2% Garnacha selected from their 300 hectares of vineyards that exemplifies the character of the vintage and the place. 2018 was a year with good rain and a cool season that resulted in a late harvest, which started on October 1 and was slow and delivered grapes with good freshness. Each variety and plot fermented separately in stainless steel. and the wines aged separately in American oak barrels for 21 months and then settled in concrete until bottling. It follows the path of the 2016, where I noticed a change that is taken further in this, controlling the power and increasing the freshness. It's very aromatic, a year completely different from the 2017; it has less structure and more freshness and subtler balance and enough oomph, concentration and power neatly compensated by freshness. I believe 2018 was a very good vintage to implement this change. It's perfumed, fresh, elegant and medium-bodied, with a velvety texture. Superb! 960,000 bottles produced."

94/100 points, Luis Gutierrez, WINE ADVOCATE, July 2022

Also awarded 94/100 points by James Suckling and 97/100 points by Tim Atkin MW

We recommend decanting the wine for 20 minutes and serve it at around 16° - 18°C (61° - 65°F) to let the wine breathe and show its full aromatic potential. 

Pair with red tuna grilled with viura shoots, bittersweet piquillo pepper and soya with roasted onion;

Galician blond beef tail in cannelloni, baked potato and red wine;

Vine shoots grilled turbot in olive, rosemary and spices.