Today, Murrieta’s wines combine tradition – only American oak is used, for instance – with a focus on purity, terroir expression, and power. They make strong wines with loads of personality and always plenty of elegance.
The 2018 Reserva is a great representative of this style. The vintage was a cooler one for Rioja, bucking recent global warming trends and allowing for a nice dose of freshness in the wines. The wine is dense and explosively energetic. It is unmistakably Rioja – one of those wines that just couldn’t be made anywhere else in the world but from its own vineyard. I like it now, but I think I’ll like it even more with years of cellaring (I’ve had plenty of older Reservas from Murrieta and they last a looooong time….)
