• Vino Yjar 2017, the first Spanish wine to enter the select market of the 'place de Bordeaux'

Marqués de Murrieta

never left, as other historical Rioja wineries did lower their level, but it is clear that with

Vicente Dalmau

, who became president of the family winery at only 24 years old in 1996, he has once again risen to the top top

rankings

, and the

proclamation of Ygay 2010 as 'wine of the year'

(not exactly 'best wine in the world', as Spanish media have interpreted it) by the leading North American magazine in the sector,

Wine Spectator

, is shining proof of that success.


The Murrieta estate is a

true

estate (or unique wine estate),

isolated in the middle Rioja, near Logroño

, with its 300 hectares around its winery, in which the young Dalmau has invested 25 million euros to reestablish the procedures traditional, always little interventionist, Rioja. He relied on two women who were fundamental to the success of his return to the forefront operation:

his sister, Cristina, in management, and the oenologist María Vargas as head of viticulture and winemaking.


Of the five wines that are produced here, the Castillo de Ygay Gran Reserva Especial is the superior

because it comes from the best plot, and the highest, La Plana, 40 hectares and planted 71 years ago.

Its base is tempranillo, but with 15% mazuelo (or cariñena), a grape that is generally little appreciated in Rioja

, but which seems to us to be one of the keys to the light freshness of this Gran Reserva, which is anything but an

oak soup

.

And,

between time in the barrel and in the bottle

(there are 130,000 these, an important figure, which is usually only seen in Bordeaux for a wine of this level),

it takes 10 years before it goes on the market.


Vicente Dalmau.

Tom Matthews

, until recently director of the

Wine Spectator

and now a columnist specialized in Spanish wines, highlighted when presenting the diploma to Vicente Dalmau that 2010 has been the best vintage of this century in Rioja, and thus praised the Ygay: "This wine is

opulent yet harmonious

, with complex flavors of dried cherry, forest floor, black tea and orange peel.

It is a beautiful example of traditional Rioja style

, and should be drunk very well for decades. "


The delivery was made during the

Wine Experience

of the magazine, in New York.

This chronicler has attended this annual celebration both in Manhattan - always at the Marriott Marquis Hotel - and in San Francisco, and the level of the tastings and that of the passionate and attending public is truly impressive.

It's not like winning at another type of festival.

It is the summit, and this award highlights Marqués de Murrieta, Rioja wines and those of Spain.

It is exactly the kind of triumphs that Spanish wine needs now to overcome its image of "cheap, but pleasant", because it can be so much more.

By the way:

for 185 euros for all that class, the Ygay is cheap.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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