Bodegas Muga Reserva 2020
(Rioja, Spain) - [WA 93] [JS 92] [VM 92] [JD 92] [WS 91, #51 Top 100 2024]

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About the Winery:
Bodegas Muga is Rioja Alta’s premier producer and the Muga family are unanimously considered to be one of Spain’s most important winemaking families. The winery has practically legendary status due to its philosophy revolving around adherence to tradition, dynamism, and winemaking of the highest quality. Few producers in the world fashion wines that have such a sense of tradition and place as Muga’s. The wines of Muga have an absolutely distinct, unique, and inimitable profile.

Tasting Notes:
This 2020 vintage has a bright ruby-red color, with medium depth and a garnet-tinged rim. On the nose you discover an intense, complex wine. Aromas of wild fruits of the forest (blackberries and blueberries) come to the fore, with hints of spices. On the palate it is long, elegant and nicely balanced. Its sharp acidity is perfectly integrated and it has soft tannins. The finish is very long and full of fruit.

This wine will be an excellent accompaniment to meat dishes like a ribeye steak, as well as with charcuterie and all kinds of casseroles.

Ratings & Reviews

93 Points - Wine Advocate:
 "The 2020 Reserva showcases wines from the Haro region and is a blend of Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano fermented in oak vat with a seven-day maceration. It was aged in barrel for 24 months—80% French and the rest are from central Europe and America. It was bottled at 14.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.55. This is a very reliable wine, keeping the profile year after year: ripe, juicy with integrated oak, spicy and tasty, with fine tannins with an approachable profile. This is a gentler year that is going to be a success with the general public. Balanced and gentle." - Luis Gutierrez (Feb 2024)

93 Points - Tim Atkin, MW:
One of a dwindling number of top Riojas that combines grapes from the Rioja Alta and Rioja Oriental sub-regions, this impressive Reserva is a blend of Tempranillo with 20% Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano. Aged in French and 15% American barrels, it’s a youthful, structured, intense red from a difficult year with toast, wood smoke, black cherry and blueberry fruit and lots of underlying structure. 2024-2032.

92 Points- James Suckling:
"Ripe but fresh nose of currants, blackberries, chocolate and plums. Not a big red, rather fluid and medium-bodied with soft tannins. A juicy, drinkable Muga Reserva that is already appealing. Enjoy now." (Aug 2023)

92 Points - Vinous:
"The 2020 Reserva is a blend of Tempranillo, Garnacha Tinta, Mazuelo and Graciano sourced from Rioja Alta. Aged for 24 months in oak barrels crafted at the winery, this garnet wine features a vanilla-cedar layer, accompanied by notes of black fruit, plums and subtle hints of herbs and animal nuances. The palate is dry, creamy and juicy, with a fairly chalky texture that lingers, presenting a compact flow." - Joaquin Hidalgo (Apr 2024)

92 Points - Jeb Dunnuck:
"I loved the 2020 Muga Reserva, a spicy, complex, classic Rioja that has both red and black fruits, ample cedary spice, leather, and violet-driven aromas, medium to full body, a ripe, supple, layered mouthfeel, and outstanding length. A blend of 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha, and the rest Graciano and Mazuelo, it's perfect for drinking over the coming decade." (July 2024)

91 Points & Rank #51 Top 100 of '24 - Wine Spectator:
"A rich, savory thread of tobacco, smoke and ground coffee underscores flavors of creamed cherry and blackberry fruit, black olive, orange peel and cocoa powder in this fresh and focused red. Medium-bodied and well-knit, with lightly chewy tannins firming the finish. Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano. Drink now through 2030." - AN (July 2024)