Muga Rioja Reserva 2020

Alcohol: 14%

Grape(s): 70% Tempranillo, 20% Grenache, 7% Mazuelo (Carignan) & 3% Graciano

Localization: Rioja, Spain

Tasting Notes: This Reserva displays an attractive, medium-deep, ruby-red colour with some brick-red glints. The nose reveals delicious red and black fruit aromas, such as blueberries, plums and forest fruit, together with notes of liquorice and chocolate. Medium-bodied on the palate, the wine shows lovely balance with hints of roasted coffee beans, ripe fruit, silky tannins and a lingering finish. This Crianza can be enjoyed now, but it also has enough structure to be cellared for several years. 

Food Pairing: This wine will go wonderfully with meat dishes, such as veal, as well as Iberico charcuterie and casseroles.

94 points James Suckling: "This was the only red that Muga made in 2018, and the wines from the best vineyards went into the blend. In other words, top vineyards were declassified. Medium-bodied with very fine tannins that are caressing and refined. Plenty of subtle berries, chocolate and walnuts. Tempranillo with garnacha, mazuelo and graciano. January 2021 release. Drink or hold." Feb 2022

The Domain: Bodegas Muga is a family firm founded in 1932 by Isaac Muga and Aurora Caño. The first wines were made in an underground cellar until in 1968 they decided to set up their own winery in a beautiful old 19th-century townhouse situated in the city of Haro. The Bodegas Muga outstanding feature is that it always uses the finest materials, combining tradition with the latest advances in winemaking so as always to give its wines the very best quality without losing authenticity. Indeed, it is the only wine cellar in Spain that employs its own master cooper and coopers, who make all the vats for the cellar as well as the oak casks. The winery remains true to traditional winemaking methods such as racking the casks by gravity and fining the wine with fresh egg whites. Bodegas Muga has succeeded in combining the purest family tradition with an updated vision of the future which has allowed them to preserve their own personality and character.