Prado Enea Gran Reserva 2015 | Muga | Rioja

Name: Prado Enea Gran Reserva 2015 | Muga | Rioja
Brand: Muga
SKU: 324
Price: 69.8 EUR
Availability: InStock

69.80 €

Prado Enea Gran Reserva 2015 | Muga | Rioja

69.80 €

Quantity :

Hurry! Only 1 Left in Stock!

Bodegas Muga, DOCa Rioja Alta. Plots in Sajazarra, Cellorigo and Fonzaleche, northwestern Rioja Alta, at 550 metres altitude. Clay-calcareous soils. Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano.

Fermented in oak vats without temperature control or added yeasts. 16-day maceration. Minimum 36 months in oak barrels, generally French. Lightly clarified with fresh egg whites. At least 36 months bottle ageing before release.

Wine Identification
Prado Enea Gran Reserva is a red wine produced by Bodegas Muga, located in the Rioja DOCa region of Spain. This specific profile corresponds to the 2015 vintage.

Origin and Winemaking
The grapes are sourced from high-altitude parcels (approximately 550 meters) in the northwestern part of Rioja Alta, specifically in the villages of Sajazarra, Cellorigo, and Fonzaleche. A portion of the Garnacha comes from higher altitude plots in Tudelilla. The vineyards feature clay-limestone soils. The blend consists of Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo, and Graciano.

Vinification is traditional and unadulterated: grapes are harvested into 200-kilogram boxes, destemmed, and optically sorted. Fermentation occurs in oak vats with indigenous yeasts and no temperature control. Maceration lasts for 16 days. The wine undergoes extended élevage of at least 36 months in French oak barrels, which are only 10% new. It is lightly clarified with fresh egg whites and aged in bottle for a minimum of 36 months before release.

Tasting Profile
The Wine Advocate describes Prado Enea as "very classical," noting incipient tertiary notes, floral aromatics, and a perfumed character. The palate is described as rich with balanced texture.

Critical Reception
This wine has received exceptional acclaim from leading critics:
Tim Atkin: 99 points
The Wine Advocate: 97 points

James Suckling: 97 points

The Wine Advocate's reviewer calls it, year in and year out, his favorite wine from Muga, describing the 2015 as powerful and ripe. The extended aging and specific blend contribute to its status as one of Rioja’s most classical Gran Reservas.

Write your review

Prado Enea Gran Reserva 2015 | Muga | Rioja

Title for your review^* Your review^*

⭐ Vinaris Programme members earn 100 points once your review is approved.

Cancel

PARKER: 97

The most classical of their wines, the 2015 Prado Enea Gran Reserva is a blend of Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano, mostly from Rioja Alta (Sajazarra, Cellorigo and Fonzaleche), but the Garnacha is from different plots in the zone of Tudelilla at high altitude. These grapes are always picked last, but the wine has a similar alcohol level as the rest, around 14.5% in a warm year like 2019. The modus operandi is similar to other of the top cuvées—harvested into 200-kilogram boxes, destemming, optical sorting and fermentation in small oak casks with indigenous yeasts. The élevage in this case is extended to 36 months, and the barrels are only 10% new. This is, year in, year out, my favorite wine from Muga, and in this powerful and ripe year, these late-harvesting vines ripened thoroughly and delivered a full array of aromas and flavors so that the wine has plenty of depth and complexity. It has a very classical profile, with incipient tertiary notes, perfumed, floral and rich, textured and beautifully balanced. They compare this 2015 with 2009 and 2005 in terms of style but with freshness in the style of 2001 and 2010. It's enjoyable but should also develop for a long time in bottle. One of the finest Prado Enea vintages. 108,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in November 2018. There's no 2012 or 2013 of this. There will be a 2016 and 2019, but no 2017 or 2018. 2020 is still a question mark, they have not yet decided it.

Learn more about Muga

The winery started with a courtship. An ancestor of Isaac Muga was a foreman at La Rioja Alta, and that is where Isaac met Aurora Caño. In 1932 the two of them founded their own house in underground cellars on the main street of Haro.

In 1971 they moved to the Barrio de la Estación, into a two-hundred-year-old mansion. Three generations of the family have run it since.

They have a cooperage inside the winery, with a master cooper and three coopers on the payroll: that is where all their barrels are made, and also the wooden vats they ferment in.

The grapes for Prado Enea are always the last to reach the winery. They come from the north-west of the Rioja Alta — Sajazarra, Cellorigo and Fonzaleche — between 550 and 600 metres, on clay-limestone soil, and they are tempranillo, garnacha, mazuelo and graciano.

It ferments in oak vats, with no temperature control and no added yeast, with sixteen days of maceration. It ages a minimum of thirty-six months in French and American oak barrels, is fined with fresh egg whites and then waits at least another thirty-six months in bottle before release.

See all wines by Muga →