Bodegas Muga Blanco 2019
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Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Bright, straw-yellow color which does not give a sign of its time in the cask. An open, complex nose in which you can find aromas of aromatic herbs such as fennel, citrus fruit (lime), stone fruit (peach) and slight toasted nuances. A fresh wine on the palate with good acidity. Balanced and silky smooth with a very long aftertaste.
A perfect pairing for grilled fish, shellfish and rice dishes, among others.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A layered, fruity white with sliced cooked lemon and some apple. Hints of hot stones. It’s full-bodied and dense with plenty of fruit. Drink now.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2019 Blanco is terrific, with a fresh, crisp, yet still textured and concentrated style. Lots of crushed citrus, white flowers, white grapefruit, and a touch of minerality all define the bouquet, and it's beautifully balanced, with bright acidity and clean, dry finish.
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Wine Spectator
A thick texture carries juicy flavors of apple, pineapple and grapefruit, with light anise and vanilla notes. Round yet firm, staying fresh through the spicy finish. Drink now through 2025.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Blanco fermented in new French oak barrels (60%) and in small oak vats and was kept with lees for three months, a change they started in 2016, giving it more time with lees and bottling it a little later. This is not light; it's 13.6% alcohol, but it keeps very good freshness and very healthy acidity with less oak than in the past. This was a bit reductive and took some time to open up. It's balanced and has integrated oak. It was a good year for Garnacha Blanca, and it represents almost 15% of the blend this year.
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Bodegas Muga is a family firm founded in 1932 by Isaac Muga and Aurora Caño. The first wines were made in an underground cellar, until in 1968 they decided to set up their own winery in a beautiful old 19th-century town-house situated in the city of Haro. The Bodegas Muga outstanding feature is that it always uses the finest materials, combining tradition with the latest advances in winemaking so as always to give its wines the very best quality without losing authenticity. Indeed, it is the only wine cellar in Spain which employs its own master cooper and coopers, who make all the vats for the cellar as well as the oak casks. The winery remains true to traditional winemaking methods such as racking the casks by gravity and fining the wine with fresh egg whites. Bodegas Muga has succeeded in combining the purest family tradition with an updated vision of the future which has allowed them to preserve their own personality and character.
With hundreds of white grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended white wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used in white wine blends, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a variety that creates a soft and full-bodied white wine blend, like Chardonnay, would do well combined with one that is more fragrant and naturally high in acidity. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.
Highly regarded for distinctive and age-worthy red wines, Rioja is Spain’s most celebrated wine region. Made up of three different sub-regions of varying elevation: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental. Wines are typically a blend of fruit from all three, although specific sub-region (zonas), village (municipios) and vineyard (viñedo singular) wines can now be labeled. Rioja Alta, at the highest elevation, is considered to be the source of the brightest, most elegant fruit, while grapes from the warmer and drier Rioja Oriental produce wines with deep color and higher alcohol, which can add great body and richness to a blend.
Fresh and fruity Rioja wines labeled, Joven, (meaning young) see minimal aging before release, but more serious Rioja wines undergo multiple years in oak. Crianza and Reserva styles are aged for one year in oak, and Gran Reserva at least two, but in practice this maturation period is often quite a bit longer—up to about fifteen years.
Tempranillo provides the backbone of Rioja red wines, adding complex notes of red and black fruit, leather, toast and tobacco, while Garnacha supplies body. In smaller percentages, Graciano and Mazuelo (Carignan) often serve as “seasoning” with additional flavors and aromas. These same varieties are responsible for flavorful dry rosés.
White wines, typically balancing freshness with complexity, are made mostly from crisp, fresh Viura. Some whites are blends of Viura with aromatic Malvasia, and then barrel fermented and aged to make a more ample, richer style of white.