Crianza

The Marques de Murrieta estate in Rioja, Spain, is one of the truly historic and symbolic wineries profiling the best of Spanish winemaking. Founded in 1852 by Luciano de Murrieta, Marqués de Murrieta has been under the ownership of the Cebrián-Sagarriga family since 1983. Situated in the heart of Rioja. The estate has been a pioneer in the region, introducing techniques over the years that have become synonymous with the rich, aged wines of Rioja. Today, Marques de Murrieta continues to blend the old with the new, producing wines that are both deeply rooted in tradition and forward-thinking and modern in their approach.

All the grapes are sourced from the bodega’s own vineyards at Ygay near Logroño, which were recently extended to 300 hectares. Traditional grape cultivars are favoured including Tempranillo, Graciano, Mazuelo, Garnacha Blanca and Viura (Macabeo), many of which are now starting to disappear from the Rioja region. The estate’s flagship wine, Marques de Murrieta Castillo Ygay, is a prime example of the owner’s premium winemaking philosophy, offering a rich, complex profile that evolves beautifully with extended ageing. From the meticulously tended vineyards to the state-of-the-art winery, Marques de Murrieta embodies the very best quality Rioja has to offer, creating wines that are celebrated the world over.

Tasting with Vicente Dalmau Cebrián-Sagarriga, the current Count of Creixell.

The Vinos de Rioja Crianza Etiqueta Blanca (white label) was a Vino de Crianza wine (designated to be aged at least one year in barrel and one year in bottle) that was primarily made from Tempranillo grapes, though other traditional red grape cultivars were also grown on the estate and were thought to have occasionally been included. The wine was aged in American oak barrels for at least two years, which was a traditional method for the winery and a longer aging period than other wineries at the time. While I don’t know what the very first vintage of the Etiqueta Blanca was, I have only physically seen vintages as old as 1967 on tastings though it is suggested by some that the label goes all the way back to 1925. The last vintage Marques de Murrieta produced was the 1982, which is considered a legendary vintage for this classic wine. I remember talking to Vicente Dalmau Cebrián-Sagarriga, the current Count of Creixell, and he mentioned that the Etiqueta Blanca was often aged in barrel and bottle for much longer than required by the appellation and indeed could have qualified as a Rioja Reserva in reality.

Regional Overview:

The Rioja designation area, located in northern Spain in the Ebro valley, is divided into three production sectors: Rioja Alta, Rioja Baja and Rioja Alavesa. The Rioja vineyard occupies approximately 60,000 hectares spread on both sides of the Ebro over around a hundred kilometres and is bordered by the Cantabrian Range to the north and the Sierra de la Demanda to the south. Three autonomous communities inhabit the designation area: the Rioja itself, Navarro and the Basque Country.

Marques de Murrieta Ygay Vinos de Rioja Crianza Etiqueta Blanca Cosecha 1971, Rioja, Spain

This was the second of four bottles I own (my birth vintage), originally bought from merchant Gareth Birchley when he working as the fine wine manager at Berry Brothers and Rudd. The storage has been exceptional, and the ullage levels are all in the lower neck. In the glass, the colour shows opaque hints with ample powdery sediment and a very developed maroon red colour with old mahogany overtones. The aromatics are sweet, stewed and almost pungent with tertiary notes of balsamic, polished mahogany wood, old leather sofas, and leather backed library books over vanilla pod, sweet dried cherries, stewed strawberry compote, blood orange zest, sweet Christmas spices and aged sous-bois herbal characters. Beautifully evolved and complex on the palate, the wine retains a seductive level of sweet fruit opulence, tinged with a tangy sweet-sour acidity and notes of dried fruits, stewed red berries, soy sauce, strawberry jam, cloves, cured meats, and earthy, savoury spicy tilled earth nuances. While obviously evolved and tertiary, the wine does not feel fragile, and indeed I recorked the last quarter of the bottle and drank it later that day having not oxidised any further from opening. This wine has that sweet, seductive glow of aged red wines that retains a broad enough appeal for even novices to enjoy and savour. The tail of the finish has a delicately bitter orange, dry rancio grippiness that merely accentuates the flavour persistence on the palate. A wine of this style has now become almost ageless, and I will certainly be in no rush to drink my last two bottles as they slumber in a state of stasis, neither improving nor decaying further.

(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The most recently listed market price for the Etiqueta Blanca 1971 was $179 at Acker Fine Wines.

The Marques de Murrieta wines are imported into the UK by Maison Marques et Domaines (MMD).

It’s funny how the status of wines changes in the blink of an eye. I remember asking Maria-Jose Lopez de Heredia why the whites of Bodegas Lopez de Heredia had become impossible to buy within the period of only 1 to 2 years. She rolled her eyes, gave a small gasp and explained that global demand from top sommeliers, top restaurants and fine wine collectors had exploded literally overnight.

For years, she explained, the traditional oxidative white styles of Rioja were very difficult to sell. They were real marmite wines – some people loved them, some hated them. But one thing most people agreed on was their suitability and versatility with a wide variety of cuisines. However, a decision had already been taken at Lopez de Heredia to replant a large portion of their white grape vineyards with higher demand red varieties.

Murphy’s Law in action… and fast forward 7 to 8 years while the red vineyards matured and in that time, the market and demand had been transformed, with the oxidative whites of Lopez de Heredia and a few other producers like Marques de Murrieta becoming some of the most sought after wines for a new generation of wine drinkers. These are consumers who covet these rare, aged, unique oxidative whites as well as increasingly other previously unfashionable styles of wine like Sherry, Madeira, skin contact whites and amphora fermented whites.

So with quantities of white Lopez de Heredia Rioja basically halved, even entry level wines like their Vina Gravonia, aged for 10 years before release, are becoming increasingly rare. The cooler 2007 vintage and current release Gravonia, produced a superb 2007 Blanco from very old Viura vines planted on gravelly soils. The wine was fermented with natural yeasts in old oak vats and then matured in oak barrels for four years before being fined with egg whites and bottled in September 2012.

Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Vina Gravonia Crianza Blanco 2007, Rioja, 12.5 Abv.

The 2007 Vina Gravonia Crianza white offers up such complex, individual and unique aromatics and flavours that there is almost nothing else quite like this wine being produced in Rioja, let alone at a similar quality and price point. The nose has such depth and intensity with nuances of cold chamomile tea, old honey, sweet oak spice, bees wax and lemon citrus infusions. The honied lemon tea character slowly gives way to reveal notes of vanilla pod, mushroom soup and subtle forest floor earthiness. On the palate, there is significant textural weight and flavour concentration that corresponds so beautifully to the wines intense tertiary aromatics. The acidity is very precise, fresh and finely balanced with the most subtle savoury character. Another fantastic addition to the long historic Vina Tondonia white Rioja lineage.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)