Muga Crianza 2020

The Muga Crianza, despite its name, is a wine with an ageing period that puts it into the category of a Reserva. We can recognise here the house's style, known to all, with each bottle holding no surprises but plenty of pleasure. The grapes used in its production are primarily Tempranillo and Garnacha, originating from calcareous-clay terraces; they ferment with native yeasts and separately, in the winery's iconic large oak vats, afterwards maturing in barrels made in Muga's own cooperage for 24 months; one year in new oak and the second in used barrels. Just as tradition requires, the wine is clarified using egg white before being transferred to bottles where it continues to round off for a year before its release onto the market. On opening the bottle, we find a wine that livens the glass with its cherry colour, packed with aromas of plums, cocoa and scrubland, as well as smoky and vanilla hints evoking the wood. On the palate, it's an elegant and well-balanced wine, always with a glimmer of acidity which keeps it agile on the palate. Its mouthfeel is meaty and earthy, and the wine advances decisively through the mouth, delivering mineral touches, sweet, ripe tannins, classicism and amplitude. Its long and spicy finish reminds us that we have before us a benchmark red which, in spite of its price, offers enormous pleasure vintage after vintage.