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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.
Prado Enea Gran Reserva 2015 es un tinto de la bodega Muga, perteneciente a la Denominación de Origen Calificada Rioja. La uva procede de parcelas situadas en Sajazarra, Cellorigo y Fonzaleche, en el noroeste de la Rioja Alta, a 550 metros de altitud sobre un suelo arcillo-calcáreo. Es una mezcla de Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo y Graciano, siendo la Garnacha proveniente específicamente de parcelas de alta altitud en Tudelilla, cosechadas siempre en última instancia.
El proceso de vinificación se realiza en depósitos de roble sin control de temperatura ni levaduras añadidas, con una maceración de 16 días. El envejecimiento se extiende durante un mínimo de 36 meses en barricas de roble francés, de las cuales solo el 10% son nuevas. Tras una ligera clarificación con claras de huevo fresco, el vino pasa una crianza en botella de al menos 36 meses antes de su lanzamiento. En total, se produjeron 108.000 botellas, embotelladas en noviembre de 2018.
The Wine Advocate le otorga 97 puntos, describiéndolo como el vino más clásico de la bodega. Señala que, en esta añada cálida y madura, las uvas tardías dieron una gama completa de aromas y sabores con gran profundidad y complejidad. El perfil resultante es muy clásico, con notas terciarias incipientes, floral, perfumado, rico y con una textura notablemente equilibrada. Se establece un paralelo de estilo con las añadas 2009 y 2005, manteniendo la frescura de 2001 y 2010. James Suckling le otorga 97 puntos y Tim Atkin 99. Es un vino disfrutable que, además, está destinado a desarrollarse durante mucho tiempo en botella, considerado una de las mejores añadas de Prado Enea.
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.
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.
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