To be classified as a “Reserva”, a wine must spend one year or more in oak, followed by two or more in bottle. Fruit for Marqués de Murrieta’s Reserva is hand-harvested from the Ygay Estate on the southernmost point of Rioja Alta, some 320 to 485 metres above sea level. Predominantly Tempranillo, with the remainder composed of Graciano, Garnacha, and Mazuelo (also known as Carignan). Hand-harvested fruit is de-stemmed and fermented in cool stainless steel, then pressed in a vertical press – a gentle means of extracting juice. The wine spends 16 months in new and neutral American oak barrels, then nearly a year and a half in bottle prior to release.

“Elegant yet perfectly structured, this is the most floral of the Murrieta Reservas I’ve tasted in recent years. With 8% Graciano and 4% Mazuelo, the nose is perfumed with pretty rose petal and delicate red berry fruit, as well as wild herbal aromas. Blueberry fruit typical of Tempranillo directs the palate, rounded out with a little fleshy Garnacha, and framed by subtle American oak. It offers immediate appeal but will age gracefully for many years to come.”
96 points, Beth Willard, Decanter, February 2025

“Their flagship wine comes from one of the finest vintages in recent times. The 2021 Marqués de Murrieta was previously called the Reserva and still qualifies as such, but it’s not included in the name now. It was produced with 86% Tempranillo, 8% Graciano, 4% Mazuelo and 2% Garnacha Tinta from their 300 hectares of vines in their Ygay estate on limestone and clay soils with alluvial influence. The grapes were picked between the 27th of September and the 15th of October, and each plot and variety was vinified separately in stainless steel, matured in American oak barrels for 26 months, then blended and kept in concrete for a few months until bottling, which was a longer élevage this year. It’s very spicy, peppery, with a combination of berry fruit and some incipient tertiary aromas, hints of forest floor and truffle. It’s very Rioja, with clout, elegance and freshness and the elegant tannins that are the signature of 2021. It comes in at 14.3% alcohol with a pH of 3.6, denoting ripeness and balance. It’s delicious, fresh and available. Bravo! This will be released in May 2025. 900,000 bottles produced. It was bottled from May to July 2024.”
95 points, Luis Gutierrez, Wine Advocate (Robert Parker), February 2025