Marqués de Murrieta - 6 Bottle Mixed Case - Limited Edition

A case inspired by a recent trip to the Marqués de Murrieta estate in Rioja

Albariño, Gran Vino Pazo Barrantes, Rias Baixas, 2020 - £50
Maria Vargas, current winemaker at MdM, also makes the wine at Pazo Barrantes, a beautiful estate located in the Salnés valley in the north-west corner of Spain. This is quite a rich, tropical and textured style of Albariño yet still maintains that lovely acidity, freshness and salinity you find in top examples. Two months on lees and then aged in a mix of stainless steel and acacia barrels. Served with Oscietra and Beluga caviar, followed by blue lobster in a butter sauce – it was all delicious!

Capellania, Gran Reserva, 2018 - £90
One of the best white Riojas you will find? Probably. 100% Viura grown high on the estate alongside the Ygay plot from 70 years old vines that yield very little but produce very concentrated grapes. After careful selection and fermentation, the wine spends 23 months in French oak barrels followed by 13 months in concrete vats. Stone fruits, pine nuts, bay and hazelnuts. Slightly smokey but with bags of mineral density and acidity. Paired up with Hake “Kokotxas” (the throat of the fish), pil pil sauce and a little soy dressing. Wow!

Marqués de Murrieta, 2019 (x2) - £32
A classic Rioja Reserva and their “wine ambassador in the world”. A great example, not only of Rioja, but of the style, elegance and consistency that characterise the MdM estate. Predominantly Tempranillo with a glug of Graciano, Mazuelo and Garnacha in there too. 24 months in American oak casks followed by two years settling in concrete to refine and knit everything together. To show the elegance and balance of the wine, this was served alongside a roasted piece of sea bream and toasted leeks – not an obvious pairing but just shows you should never rule out red wine with fish!

Marqués de Murrieta Gran Reserva, 2015 - £60
Only made in select vintages and often labelled as “Limited Edition”, this is the balance between classicism and modernity. Around the table at lunch, balsamic was regularly used as a key tasting note to the reds of MdM and it was here in abundance. Slightly savoury but still with that sweet fruit of a good aged balsamic vinegar and a lick of smoky spice. Tasted with a Bresse Pigeon breast with balsamic and red-wine-poached pear, it came in to its own after a while in the glass.

Castillo Ygay, 2011 - £250
The flagship, a benchmark, and with unquestionable recognition in the world of fine wine. A wine that dates back to 1852 when Don Luciano Murrieta made the first Rioja wine after applying techniques he learned in Bordeaux. Produced from fruit grown at the highest part of the estate on La Plana, this is 84% Tempranillo and 16% Mazuelo. So many scents, flavours and textures jumped out of the glass along with emotion of tasting this special wine at its home. It was drunk with a piece of sirloin taken from a Sayaguesa cow – a rare breed of cattle from central Spain – that was grilled over Mazuelo vines.