Description
The origin of Marqués de Murrieta winery is also the origin of Rioja. Don Luciano Murrieta, applying techniques learned in Bordeaux, made the first Rioja wine in 1852, with the intention of sustaining it over time.
Don Luciano´s vision was clear from the begin-ning: to create a fine Rioja wine with a great ageing potential and start exporting it outside of Spain. He shipped his first vintage, with the legendary 1852, to countries such as Mexico and Cuba, making it the first fine Rioja wine to be exported.
Marqués de Murrieta Estates and Wines is led since 1983 by the Cebrián-Sagarriga family, characterized by their professionalism and daily effort.
After 6 years of works, the major renovation project at Marqués de Murrieta was completed with the inauguration in 2021 of the new winemaking facilities, a complex of buildings with more than 25,000 square meters, built next to the Castillo de Ygay. This spacious building is equipped with the latest technology and is considered one of the most avant-garde wineries in the world. More than 50,000 square meters of gardens make it a charming and idyllic setting.
The winery is now fully modernised while remaining true to its roots and identity and ready to continue crafting the finest possible wines.
Marqués de Murrieta is a way of living that starts in the land with every single grape and we share with the world through our wines. We are a family and a professional team with the same goal: to keep our tradition alive, believe in ourselves and in the quality in the search for excellence. We work with our hands, our mind and our heart applying the technology always in balance with our history.
Marqués de Murrieta is continuously evolving with new and visionary ideas which enable us to adapt to the new times, new consumers and our dreams. Our vocation drives us to work always with passion and dignify our vineyard, every grape, every bottle, every glass of wine in any part of the world where we are present.
To celebrate the 170th anniversary of the winery, 6 vintages of Reserva, the most emblematic wine of Marques de Murrieta, were set aside for a longer ageing in the cellars.
The wine is presented in a refined wooden case and comes with a presentation describing each of the vintage from 2012 to 2017.
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
Pairing: Grilled and baked scallop with red wine sauce and truffled liquid potato. Twice-cooked sea bass, sweet onion, apple and foie mousse and fine velouté. Roast breast of Mallard duck, crispy potato and borage flower. Soft cow’s milk cheese and truffled Brie.
Tim Atkin – 97 points
James Suckling – 94 points
Beautifully perfumed with dried flowers, walnuts and violets to the dark berries on the nose. Full-bodied, yet very tight and refined with creamy, chewy tannins that are polished and poised. A lively, finely crafted red. Nice to drink now, but shows excellent potential for the future.
Wine Advocate – 94 points
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!