Bodegas Muga is a famous family-owned winery located in the historic wine district of Haro in Rioja Alta (the town is also home to such prestigious wineries as La Rioja Alta or the CVNE).
Founded relatively recently during the long history of Rioja, in 1932, the bodega owns about 250 hectares of vineyards (600 acres) and buys grapes from growers under contract from an additional 150 hectares (400 acres).
It is in fact not before 1968, when a 19th century building with a distinctive tower became available in Haro, that the Bodega moved to its current location.
Bodegas Muga prides itself in hosting several coopers on the site, assembling their own barrels and refurbishing the winery’s oak vats allowing it to age virtually all its wines in oak in one way or another.
Muga’s offering is rather extensive, containing at least 10 different wines, from the best-selling white, rosé, or Reserva red, to the more premium Torre Muga, the famous Prado Enea and Aro, as well as a few Cava sparklings.
Find below our wine reviews and tasting notes of Bodega Muga’s wines, as well as my detailed wine tasting videos.
Wines of Bodegas Muga – The Best Sellers
Watch the Review of Muga’s Best Selling Wines in Video
2017 Bodegas Muga Blanco, Rioja White
Score: 90/100 points
Blend of 90% Viura, with 10% Malvasía and Garnacha Blanca (white Grenache or Grenache Blanc) grown on chalky-clay and alluvial soils. After a skin-contact maceration in the press for about 8 hours, this white wine ferments in new, French-oak casks before a further 3 months ageing on lees prior to bottling.
Overall Wine Review & Tasting Impressions
A crisp and vibrant white wine, with a biting mineral acidity that features an obvious concentration.
Flavors are elegant and zesty, floral notes of elderflower as well as pungent lemon notes.
Depth is added by aromas of brioche from obvious ageing on lees, delicate yeasty tones. This ageing on lees in barrel has also provided much oily texture for complete, balanced, powerful yet approachable and pleasing experience.
A thirst-quenching yet concentrated and very interesting white wine. One that will be very versatile for food pairing both with seafood dishes as well as grilled meats or spicy tapas. The vibrant acidity and dense flavor concentration enable this white Rioja to withstand the strong flavors of most tasty dishes.
2017 Bodegas Muga Rosé, Rioja White
Score: 89/100 points
Blend of 60% Garnacha, 30% Viura and 10% Tempranillo (blend of red and white grapes) from chalky-clay and alluvial soils. 12-hour skin contact to extract color, after which the wine was fermented for 15-20 days in small wooden vats at 16-18ºC (relatively low and slow fermentation to maintain freshness of flavors). Maturation in vats on fine lees with regular stirring for 3 months to smoothen and deepen the wine’s texture.
Overall Wine Review & Tasting Impressions
A tasty rosé in an elegant relatively pale salmon-pink color, much in a Provence style in appearance although with slightly more color intensity.
The nose is quite restrained, fruity and floral with aromas of elderflower and pomegranate. Much like the white, this is a punchy, dry and crisp wine with solid concentration of acidity and flavors.
Vibrant notes of citrus are rounded up by smooth and mouth-coating flavors of red berries.
A crowd-pleaser of a rosé wine, smooth yet zesty, dry yet approachable. Ideal for pairing with all sorts of summery dishes, barbecues and salads.
2014 Bodegas Muga Tinto Crianza, Rioja Red
Score: 91/100 points
Typical Rioja blend of Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano aged in oak barrels.
Overall Wine Review & Tasting Impressions
A powerfully-scented red, featuring a dark red color, nearly black to the core. Intense aromas of oak, dark chocolate, sweet coffee, and bourbon come with ripe notes of jammy blackberry and cherry liqueur.
This is a dense and tannic red, although the texture is smooth and oily, while the warming alcohol makes flavors of smoky oak and dark red berries explode on the palate.
Yet, the wine feels dry and somewhat savory, with a European finesse and restrained despite the apparent power and concentration.
Solid acidity and interesting texture. Big length and many layers making for a complex and food-friendly tasting experience for lovers of intense, deep, and generous reds.
Wines of Bodegas Muga – The High-End
Watch the Review of Muga’s Top Rioja Wines in Video
2012 Bodegas Muga Selección Especial Reserva Rioja
Score: 92/100 points
A dark and powerful red, featuring intense aromas of dark and ripe red berry fruits, blackberry and dark cherry in an ocean of warming and comforting cocoa and coffee liqueur background. An inviting and pungent aromatic profile promises loads of power.
The palate confirms this impression with a wine providing a big burst of jammy and spicy flavors.
Vanilla, dark chocolate, clove and black pepper come with mixed berry jam and prune/ripe plum notes. The outstanding acidity though, added to the relative dryness of the wine for a big ripe red, lifts the freshness of the fruity characters, and make the red berry notes taste and feel crisp and lively.
A very concentrated wine in a complex, oaky, layered, big and bold, and somewhat composed expression of Rioja.
For lovers of punchy dry reds, oaky yet complex Rioja wines right in between the modern and the traditional styles.
Drink now and preferably with 10 years (2018-2028) although it will probably withstand 20 or 30 years of aging for those in search of a developed bouquet.
Muga Selección Especial Label Images
2010 Bodegas Muga Prado Enea Gran Reserva Rioja
Score: 93/100 points
A wine that spends 12 months of ageing at the bodega in oak vats, before a rare and long 36 months in oak barrels. This is only before a further 36 months (3 years) of maturation in bottle before the wine is finally released.
This long preparation explains why 2010 vintage is the currently available wine ex-cellar, the winery going to great length to make Prado Enea ready for enjoyment as soon as you buy it!
Indeed, this is a powerful and concentrated wine, featuring loads of cherry liqueur, dark chocolate and caramel notes. But the immense intensity of both aromas and flavors is delivered in somewhat an elegance, finesse, and restraint, suggesting a wine of high pedigree, great complexity, and one that makes for a fascinating tasting experience.
Tannins are very smooth, although plentiful. The acidity here is a standout!
A dry and characterful red, delivering a huge intensity, remarkable complexity in a controlled and refined manner. The secret recipe of Prado Enea’s international acclaim as a staple Rioja wine.
You can drink 2010 Prado Enea now, it is enjoyable to taste already, as meant to be. But it will also accept a solid 10 years of ageing if you feel so inclined and will only deepen and solidify its great complexity further.
Muga Prado Enea Label Images
2014 Torre Muga Gran Reserva, Rioja
Score: 95/100 points
The color on 2014 Torre Muga sets the tone: deep, dark red with a heap of purple hues, this simply appears to be a huge wine just by looking at it!
The nose is so elegant it doesn’t smell like a massive wine, but rather one with a precise, complex and detailed aromatic profile featuring rare blackcurrant freshness. Deep refined notes of fine oak, hazelnut, caramel, and dark cocoa.
The freshness and depth of the red berry fruit characters is a standout, as well as the apparent quality and integration of amazingly fine oak.
Just like when you taste an expensive and fine coffee or piece of chocolate, you know here you’re tasting the refined expression of an oaky Rioja wine. Layered and long.
Smooth and very dense tannins come with a sustained acidity amplifying the freshness, in a very harmonious balance.
Sure, this is a huge, massive, and concentrated wine, but the balance and finesse in its expression that only the very, very finest reds can imprint in a tasting experience, hence its passing the 95-pts mark.
A rare experience that is only starting to be revealed in this 2014 vintage. Hold on to it for another 5 years at least to allow it to mature and develop to become the complete wonder of a wine it promises to slowly transform into. From there, it will probably withstand time for another 2 decades for the patient amateurs.
Drink between 2023 and 2050 then!
Torre Muga Label Images
Enjoy ?
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