Muga Selection Especial Reserva 2018

Muga Selection Especial Reserva 2018 is created from carefully selected grapes from Muga's most prestigious vineyards, where the oldest vines are found: 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha, 7% Mazuelo and 3% Graciano. The wine has matured for 6 months in wooden vats, followed by 26 months in French oak barrels and a minimum of 12 months in bottle. This wine is one of Muga's most sophisticated, with the classic characteristics of an excellent Rioja. It offers a fruity aroma of cherries and blueberries, with subtle notes of herbs, earth, flowers, vanilla, chocolate and tobacco. The palate is full-bodied and well-balanced with fruit, spices, tannins, acidity and a light sweetness from the barrel aging.

Serving: We suggest letting the wine aerate for a few hours in a carafe and serving it at a temperature of 14-16 degrees. It is an excellent choice for dishes with veal, lamb or game, possibly served with beans and chorizo ​​or grilled vegetables such as zucchini, eggplant and red peppers with oil, garlic and barbecue spices.

94+ points - Robert Parker, October 2020: "The current vintage of their first choice red wine with food is the 2016 Selección Especial, whose grapes are selected from terraced vineyards in the Montes Obarenes and Sierra Cantabria, from vines with an average age of 35 years. It fermented in oak vats and matured in French oak barrels for 26 months, and it is stored in the bottle for at least 18 months before release. This wine is serious and has freshness and a certain restraint on the palate; it is much more expressive, floral and aromatic with more integrated oak than the wines from five+ years ago. It is a more elegant vintage than 2015 and just as good, or slightly better. Winemaker Isaac Muga considers 2016 to be a very good harvest. It was bottled in April 2019. This is among the best vintages of Selección Especial. 288,000 bottles produced."

95 points - James Suckling, October 2021: "A very beautiful, well-groomed young red wine with plum