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Producer | Muga Seleccion Especial 2016 |
Country | Spain |
Region | Rioja |
Subregion | Rioja Alta |
Varietal | 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha, 7% Mazuelo, 3% Graciano |
Vintage | 2016 |
Sku | 18229 |
Size | 750ml |
Rated 96 Points by Wine & Spirits Magazine
This grows at high altitudes, in high-density plantings on ancient terraces above the Ebro river, some of the vines dating to 1946, the youngest planted in 1986. Those alluvial soils and old vines performed remarkably well in 2016, delivering a fresh blend - Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano - 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. A glorious young Rioja suited to aging, or to drinking now with spit-roasted suckling pig.
Rated 95 Points by James Suckling
A very pretty, manicured young red with plum, berry and dark-chocolate character. Medium body and round tannins that are focused and firm. Delicious, succulent finish. Plenty of subtle fruit and supple tannins take you to where you want to go in fine Rioja red. Drinkable now but linear and tight. Give it some time. Better after 2021. 10/2020
Rated 94 Points by Jeb Dunnuck
Always a terrific wine, the 2016 Selección Especial is based on 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha, and the rest Graciano and Mazuelo. 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. The 2015 is a richer, more opulent wine, while the 2016 shows a touch more freshness and elegance. Both are beautiful vintages worth buying, cellaring, and drinking. 10/2020
Rated 94 Points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The current vintage of the red that is their first option to have with food is the 2016 Selección Especial, whose grapes are selected from terraced vineyards in the Montes Obarenes and the Sierra Cantabria, from vines averaging 35 years of age. It fermented in oak vats and matured in French oak barrels for 26 months, and it's kept in bottle for at least 18 months before it's sold. 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. Rating: 94+ (LG) 10/2020
Rated 94 Points by Vinous
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. Raised in new and used French oak barrels. (JR) 04/2021
Muga Seleccion Especial 2016
Winemaker Notes
The 2016 vintage, officially ranked as “Very Good”, produced wines showing great balance between freshness and power and revealing expressive aromas, very ripe tannins, depth and length of flavor.
This Special Selection Reserva 2016 exhibits a medium-deep, dense garnet/black cherry color.
The nose is complex with ripe, red berry and black fruit coming to the fore with hints of black pepper and subtle, creamy, smoky oak, followed by notes of coffee and a touch of mint.
The entry on the palate is smooth and elegant and develops with good volume towards an elegant, harmonious mid-palate revealing fresh, ripe red berry fruits and spice. The whole is underpinned by a powerful tannic structure and fresh acidity.
This powerful yet elegant Reserva offers great ageing potential.
Food Pairings
This wine will go well with red meats, lamb and all types of game dishes.
Blend: 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha, 7% Mazuelo, 3% Graciano
Vinification
After fermentation with indigenous yeasts in oak vats, the wine is Aged for 26 months, in new french oak barrel made in our cooperage. After being fined with fresh egg whites, the wine is bottled, after which it remains in our cellars for at least 18 months for further ageing.
Ageing
26 months in French-oak casks made in our own cooperage at the winery. Shortly before bottling, the wine was fined with fresh egg whites. Once bottled, the wine matured another 18 months in our bottle cellars.
Soil: Clay-limestone Tertiary era terraces located on the slopes of Montes Obarenes and Sierra Cantabria.
Bodegas Muga
Bodegas Muga is a family business founded by Isaac Muga and Aurora Caño in 1932, which is located in the historic Barrio de La Estación (Station Quarter) of Haro. With an area of around 25,000 square metres, it is home to both the most traditional winemaking methods and the latest cutting-edge techniques.
Wines that are born from inspiration and authenticity.
In Muga, we always use the finest materials and are open to new techniques that provide greater quality without losing authenticity.
To produce each of our wines, we continue opting for traditional procedures:
Through the natural process of fining, we eliminate the suspended particles that appear in the wine.
We carry out the decanting by the traditional method of gravity.
We are the only cellar in Spain with a master cooper and three in-house barrel-makers.
Muga
Bodegas Muga is Rioja Alta’s premier producer and the Muga family are unanimously considered to be one of Spain’s most important winemaking families. The winery has practically legendary status due to its philosophy revolving around adherence to tradition, dynamism, and winemaking of the highest quality. Few producers in the world fashion wines that have such a sense of tradition and place as Muga’s. The wines of Muga have an absolutely distinct, unique, and inimitable profile.
Bodegas Muga was officially founded in 1932 by the Muga family, who at that point had spent several decades working as viticulturists in Rioja Alta. At the time, the Mugas were in the negociant business of buying, blending, and ageing wine. Soon after the foundation of the cellars they started production of their own estate grown wines. The winery is still owned by the Mugas and every single aspect of its operation is controlled and overseen by the family.
From a production point of view, they are one of the most traditional wineries in the world, as every aspect of the winemaking process is still carried out in oak barrels and vats. Furthermore, every single barrel and vat is made at the winery by the cooperage team. Bodegas Muga is the only winery in Spain that employs their own master cooper, who is assisted by a team of three barrel makers. The master cooper’s son also works at the winery, and is studying to become a master cooper himself. The Mugas travel in the late fall and early winter every year to France and elsewhere to purchase oak for the year. They inspect every single tree and select one by one. The trees are fashioned into staves at the winery, and are seasoned and aged for several years at the winery’s facilities. The winery even has 50,000L vats that were assembled by the master cooper’s own hands.
The winemaking process is carried out with 100% indigenous yeasts. The winery’s barrel room is enormous and Muga employs a crew of six men just for barrel management and rackings. The racking process is completed by gravity in order to maintain the integrity of the wine. During the rackings, the wine is inspected by candlelight to watch for sediments. This way, the wines are effectively filtered naturally without the use of harmful pumps or filters that would otherwise strip the wine of its character. The red wines are fined naturally with egg whites.
Although the Mugas have maintained all aspects of traditional Rioja winemaking, what makes the family great is their vision for the future and adaptability, while always holding true to their philosophy.
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