“A nose of brambly dark berries with a touch of pine needle prepare the palate for flavors of blackberry, cassis, cocoa powder, coffee bean and eucalyptus. Tannins come on a bit heavy and then recede into a minty finish.”

“The single vineyard bottling of Rioja “Dalmau” from Marqués de Murrieta is produced from sixty-plus year-old vines, with the wine aged in new French oak barrels for twenty-three months prior to bottling. The wine is made from a cépages of eighty percent Tempranillo and ten percent each of Graciano and Cabernet Sauvignon. It is given an additional year of bottle aging in the cellars prior to release. The wine offers up a deep and nicely new oaky bouquet of black cherries, plums, Cuban cigars, a beautiful base of soil, fresh nutmeg, brown spices and nutty new oak. On the palate deep, full-bodied and very pure, with a beautiful core of fruit, fine focus and grip, ripe, seamless tannins and a long, nascently complex and impeccably balanced finish. This is Marqués de Murrieta’s “modern” style of Rioja, but like everything they make, it is a stunningly beautiful wine! 2033-2085.”

“The 2015 vintage of Rioja Finca Ygay “Gran Reserva” from Marqués de Murrieta is crafted from a cépages of eighty percent tempranillo, nine percent each of graciano and mazuelo and two percent garnacha. The wine was aged for twenty-seven months in two hundred and twenty-five liter, American oak casks and comes in at an even fourteen percent in this warm year. The bouquet wafts from the glass in a complex blend of red and black raspberries, cigar wrapper, lovely meaty tones, cloves, a touch of celery seed, salty minerality, spicy American oak and a topnote of woodsmoke. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and youthfully structured, with absolutely superb depth at the core, fine soil signature and grip, ripe, well-integrated tannins, tangy acids and excellent focus and balance on the long, complex and very promising finish. 2015 produced plenty [113] of potential structure in Rioja and this excellent Gran Reserva has a fine chassis for long-term cellaring and should prove to be a very long-lived wine that will drink splendidly once it is ready. 2033-2100.”

“Look at an early bottle of this wine and you will see that it was labelled Château Ygay. However, eventually France complained – hence the Castillo Ygay we have now. The Castle is a worthy name for one of Rioja's most famed wines from one of Rioja's founding wineries. It carries lightly its two years in American oak and its following years in bottle, revealing elegant spicing, red fruits and bright acidity. The 16% Mazuelo is important here for freshness: a distinguishing feature of Murrieta vineyard resources.”

“Marqués de Murrieta spoils the Rioja lover for choice, with Gran Reserva Especial as well as this fine Gran Reserva, and a very delicious reserva. Why select a Gran Reserva when the Reserva is so good? Because this is a wine made with great precision by winemaker María Vargas, who is also a master blender. Her attention to detail brings out a wonderfully complex expression of the succulent dark fruit, layered with very fine American oak.”