A friend of mine who is a sommelier passed this week’s wine along to me. He noted that it was made by a noteworthy Spanish wine producer and that the wine is highly “testable”.

What does “testable” mean, you ask? This word is wine-geek code for saying that a wine is a high quality wine that is typical of the style of wine that it is (i.e. it is an accurate representation of the grape and region) and that the wine could be poured in a blind tasting, particularly under examination situations.

As you may or may not be aware, this kind of thing - that is, pouring a wine and having someone taste it without knowing what it is and then requiring them to describe it and guess what it is (blind) is quite a common attribute of higher level wine studies.

And with that, let’s get right into this week’s wine pick!

2016 Marques de Murrieta Rioja Reserva

This week’s wine comes from the Rioja region of Spain. It is a deep, brooding and rich expression of the Tempranillo grapes (with a few other grapes thrown in for fun!) that might surprise you if you think you have a view of what Rioja is. Read on to learn all that you need to know about this wine!

What does this wine cost?

$33.95

What in the (wine) world is Tempranillo?

Most wine lovers have likely heard of Tempranillo.

Tempranillo is easily Spain’s most famous dark skinned grape, because of its role as a leading actor in the country’s most famous wine (i.e. Rioja). It is indeed the country’s most widely planted red grape variety. Tempranillo can also be found in other parts of the wine world, albeit in much smaller quantities, including France, Portugal, Italy and Australia.

Within Spain, Tempranillo is referred to by many different names and made in many different styles, depending upon where the grapes are grown and wine is made within the country. Each wine region tends to have its own well-defined style and expression.

Where does this wine come from?

As noted above, this wine comes from the Rioja region of Spain. This region has traditionally been one of Spain’s most widely recognized regions in a global marketplace. This is not to say that other regions are not well known and well regarded, for this is simply untrue. The comment here is only that for the average consumer, Rioja is well associated with Spain, possibly more so than any other wine/region.

The Rioja region itself is divided into three broad swaths of land. This wine comes from the southern part of Rioja Alta, or the upper sub-region. Rioja Alta is at a higher altitude and is considered to produce the most elegant and sophisticated wines of entire region of Rioja.

Why is this wine unique?

There is a crazy amount of history behind this producer and it is one of the most recognized names in Rioja. Read more about this below.

This producer also happens to have been named one of the top “First Growths” of Rioja by famed wine critic, Tim Atkins. He has noted that the Reserva bottling is a reliable pick.

Who makes this wine?

This wine is made by Marques de Murrieta. This winery was established by a Spanish nobleman named Don Luciano Murrieta in the mid 1800s.

Applying techniques he had learned in Bordeaux, he produced the first Rioja wine in 1852. Don Luciano was convinced that Rioja wines were high quality, had good aging potential and should be exported outside of Spain so he exported the 1852 vintage to countries such as Mexico and Cuba, thereby becoming the first bodega to export Rioja wine.

The heart of the winery is the Finca Ygay, upon which stands a historic castle side by side with a modern winery. The finca (estate) consists of 300 hectares of vines.

A few Wine Geek “essential facts” about the wine (feel free to skip this if you don’t care about detailed wine-making information!):

Grape Varieties - 87% Tempranillo, 6% Graciano, 5% Mazuelo, 2% Garnacha

Soil Types - clay calcareous

Vineyard Altitude - 320 to 485 metres

Vinification - grapes were hand harvested, destemmed and crushed, separately fermented in stainless steel tanks, with pumping over and punch downs; once finished, the wine was aged for 16 months in American oak barriques

ABV - 14%

Residual Sugar - 3 g/L

My tasting notes:

This wine surprised me with its structure, in particular its tannins and acidity. It has both in ample amounts. It is also full of leather, spice, plum, strawberry notes and wet leaf notes on the palate. The finish of the wine is reasonable, though not remarkable. It might surprise a lot of people to know that the wine is a Tempranillo-dominant blend, if they were not aware of this before trying the wine.

Aging potential:

In 2022, this wine still has structure and life and should continue to develop. Recommended drinking window - between now and 2025.

Recommendations to Wineitupanotch:

Enjoy this wine with red meat. It’s a marriage made in heaven.

Wineitupanotch Wine Score: 88 points

The wine is enjoyable overall, especially for those that favour structure and weight. For me, I found the tannins to be a bit too robust vis a vis my expectations for a Rioja Reserva.

FINAL VERDICT:

A solid value for the price and well suited to wine lovers who enjoy robust and expressive red wines.

(By the way, I’m not sure this is “highly testable”. Sorry, dear Friend, lol!)

If you’ve tried this wine already, or decide to pick it up and try it after reading this post, I’d love to hear from you and hear what you think of it! Please do drop me a line.

Until next time, wishing you love, light and of course - good wine!……

Cheers…..XOXO