Bodegas Muga Rioja Reserva 2021 (375ml)
Product price
$17.99
Description
Bodegas Muga's 2021 Rioja Alta Reserva is a blend built on Tempranillo, with Garnacha Tinta, Mazuelo, and Graciano in supporting roles. The vintage was cooler than usual, which allowed the harvest to stretch into late October and the grapes to develop full flavor and proper ripeness. The wine fermented destemmed in oak vats with native yeasts, then aged for two years in a mix of French and American oak (20 percent new), with regular racking to refine its structure.
The 2021 opens with layered aromatics: sour cherry, black cherry, balsamic notes, and a whisper of undergrowth, all held in check by subtle oak influence. On the palate it's dry and focused, with fine-grained tannins that carry a faint chalky edge, while the fruit remains bright and juicy underneath. The finish is long and fruit-forward, touched with delicate oak-derived nuances. This is a harmonious, well-balanced wine that shows both power and elegance, built to age but drinking beautifully now.
Product Details
| Category | Wine |
| Color | Red |
| Country | Spain |
| Region | Rioja |
| Subregion | Rioja Alta |
| Varietal | Rioja Red Blend |
| Producer | Bodegas Muga |
| Vintage | 2021 |
| Size | 375 ML |
| Subtype | Still |
Expert Reviews
The grapes for the 2021 Reserva (sold as Crianza in Spain), mostly Tempranillo with some Garnacha Tinta, Mazuelo and Graciano, were picked late in a cooler year when they finished the harvest the 20th of October, with plenty of times for the grapes to develop full aromas and flavors and complete ripeness. It fermented destemmed and lightly crushed in oak vats with indigenous yeasts, separating qualities, villages and soils, and matured in 80% French and 20% American oak barrels, 20% of them new, for 24 months, with racking every eight to nine months. It's a textbook example of their style in a very good year, with power, concentration and clout, elegance and freshness. It was a very harmonious year; the cycle was long and the tannins ripened to perfection. It's terrific and more so for the volume they produce (984,000 bottles of it). It was fined with egg whites and bottled in January 2024.
The 2021 Reserva Muga, from Rioja Alta, is a blend of Tempranillo, Garnacha Tinta, Mazuelo and Graciano. This aged for 24 months in barrels. The complex, balanced nose offers sour cherry, black cherry, balsamic notes and undergrowth with the oak providing an unobtrusive frame. Dry, with fine, slightly chalky tannins and a juicy core, the long finish is fruit-forward with delicate nuances from the aging process.