Established in 1852, Murrieta is one of the oldest and most respected bodegas in Rioja Alta. Their wines are concentrated and long-lived and some, like “Castillo Ygay”, have become legendary amongst wine-lovers. Marqués de Murrieta has not stood back and stagnated however; their 300 hectare estate produces Dalmau – a blend which represents an avant-garde expression of their terroir.
A selection of the best fruit available in selected vintages from an old single vineyard called “Canajas” plot. It is located at 465 metres altitude within the 300 hectare Ygay estate surrounding the winery in the southern point of Rioja Alta wine area. Special green harvest techniques – crop thinning – are carried out in the pursuit for fresh concentration and complexity.
Grapes are first carefully de-stemmed and then fermented both in a temperature controlled, stainless steel tank and a wooden vat for 11 days, with daily “remontage” and “delestage” processes, in order to obtain full potential of the perfect condition grapes. While Tempranillo ferments in three stainless steel deposits, Cabernet Sauvignon and Graciano ferment individually in a wooden vat. Manually selected harvest done in small crates so that grapes reach the winery as soon as possible and in perfect conditions. The graciano was hand-picked on October 7, the tempranillo on October 9 and cabernet sauvignon on October 15. The wine spends 23 months in 225-litre new French Allier oak barrels and was bottled in July 2019.
2016 is classified as very good by the consejo. Quality is very good, modest alcohol, full ripeness and ripe well integrated tannins, the best vintage of recent years.
Dalmau has a complex nose, with aromas of wild fruits and dark chocolate, combined with creamy, spicy aromas following ageing in new French oak barrels.
Deboned ox tail with red wine, mint and clove flavouring, crunchy fried breadcrumbs; stewed Pigeon, red wine, cacao and black pepper; veal shank, potato croquette and red piquillo pepper; dark chocolate truffles…
Serve at 16º-18º C. Open one hour before serving.
GUÍA GOURMETS (SPAIN): 98 points.
GUÍA PROENSA (SPAIN): 97 points.
TIM ATKIN (UK): 96 points.
GUÍA PEÑÍN (SPAIN): 96 points.
GUÍA EL PAÍS (SPAIN): 96 points.
JAMES SUCKLING (USA): 94/95 points.
WINE ADVOCATE | ROBERT PARKER (USA): 94/95 points.
Rioja Alta, Spain
82% Tempranillo
15% Cabernet Sauvignon
3% Graciano
Natural cork
14.5%
No
No
