Although they are very subtle, the milky nuances typical of Rioja wines are the first aroma I detect on the nose. The fruit is a bit lacking, with burnt notes, hints of spices and licorice (another trademark of Tempranillo based wines) coming forward.
Once in the mouth the wine pleases you from the first sip. Tasty and fresh, with an agreeable mouthfeel, thanks to well integrated tannins. In the finish and the fairly long aftertaste the fruit finally comes out.
The Seleccíon Especial is basically the Reserva wine of Bodegas Muga, which, with a bit of overstretch, tracks back its founding to 1932, when Isaac Muga opened a wine cellar/shop in Haro. In reality, only in the late 60’s did the family acquire a winery, moved to the present location in the traditional Station District of Haro and started producing its own wine. Nowadays nine members of the family are contributing in making the 1.5 million bottles annually produced by the winery.
Bodegas Muga proudly controls every step of the viticultural and vinification process, including the production of its own wood barrels, which it uses throughout all the winemaking process. Muga is one of the few estates in the world that owns its own cooperage and imports its oak directly. Mainly from France, but some also from the United States.
Bodegas Muga ferments, ages and stores all its wine in oak vats and barrels that are made and attended by three coopers and a “cubero”, who specializes in the big casks. These employees are in charge of working with the oak wood that gives Muga’s wines a unique and personal touch.
Aging wine in oak is an art. The barrels a winemaker chooses have a marked effect on how the wine will taste, lending flavours that range from sweet to austere. We are accustomed to tracing a wine’s history back to its origins. We are less used to do the same with the barrel, forgetting that the barrique in which the wine is aged also has an history that goes back to an oak tree growing in a French forest, to the ageing of the staves under the influx of the weather, to the cooper craft and to the toasting of the wood.
Tasting the Muga’s wines one realises that having special expertise in the oak production process clearly pays off, allowing the production of very smooth and appealing wines.
Muga Seleccíon Especial is a blend of 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha, 7% Mazuelo and 3% Graciano, it costs 22 EUR at the winery in Spain, 40 CHF at Globus in Switzerland.
Country: Spain
Region: Rioja
Grapes: Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo, Graciano
Type: Red
Vintage: 2011
Producer: Bodegas Muga
Price range: Medium (15-30 US$)
Pascal’s Enjoyment Index: 4/5