A fantastic tale of Rioja, Marqués de Murrieta was initially founded under the Marqués de Murrieta, who brought production techniques to Spain from Bordeaux. It was back in 1852 that the Marques produced his first wine in Logroño, moving into the Ygay Estate in the late 1870s. Located at the heart of La Rioja, the Estate is home to Ygay Castle, headquarters of the Marqués de Murrieta wineries. A sight to be seen, this historic castle is set on 300 hectares of vineyards as the Castillo Ygay accommodates the whole of Marqués de Murrieta’s winemaking history, a history that laid the foundations of the Rioja Designation of Origin DOCa.
Fast forward to 1983, the Cebrián-Sagarriga family continued Murrieta’s tradition In 2007, they commenced meticulous restoration work on Ygay Castle that was finished in 2014 – the year the winery reopened its doors. Visitors can now tour the vineyards and century-old facilities, in addition to tasting the Estate’s wines. Inside the castle are the historic production cellar, the cask ageing rooms, and the collected wines dating from 1852 to the present.
The new wines were fantastic across the board. I love the 2014 Marques de Murrieta ‘Gran Reserva Finca Ygay’ Rioja (OB, 96) which is flat out stunning and dense with a pillowy texture. Learn more about this amazing historic house in Rioja at https://marquesdemurrieta.com/ and here are my reviews of the beautiful new wines by Marques de Murietta.
2018 Marques de Murrieta ‘Capellania’ White Wine- The brilliant 2018 ‘Calellania’ was sourced from the 4.8-acre CapellanÃa vineyard, originally planted in 1945. Dense and viscous with a seamless texture, this offers Macadamia nut, white peach, lychee, and shades of baking spice dusted Yakima cherry on the palate. Finishing exceedingly long, this is rich and heady stuff that is not for the weary. Drink 2024-2040- 95
2019 Marques de Murrieta ‘Dalmau’ Rioja- The 2019 ‘Dalmau’ is a sensational new and modern style of Rioja that comes from the 9-hectare (22 acres) Canajas Vineyard. This site is set a 465 meters and was first planted in 1950 on iron clay and a stony topsoil. This is seamless, absolutely stunning Rioja with a serious weight and glorious mouthfeel. Dense dark fruits greet you alongside coffee grounds, toasty oak and shades of salty soils on the palate. Powerful and dense, this is going to be a 20 year wine. Drink 2024-2044- 96
2015 Marques de Murrieta ‘Gran Reserva Finca Ygay’ Rioja- The stunning 2015 ‘Gran Reserva Finca Ygay’ is composed of 80% Tempranillo and 9% percent each of Graciano and Mazuelo, with a dash of Garnacha all coming from the 741-acre Ygay Estate. Vines are set between 320 meters to 485 meters above sea level. This is fleshy and soft with beautiful bright acidity that combines with rich red fruits, menthol and orange rind flavors. Finishing exceedingly long, this is a stunning effort that will easily live on for another twenty years to come. Drink 2024-2044- 96