2016 - Muga Torre Muga, Rioja

Brilliant violet. Intense, spice-tinged cherry, boysenberry and vanilla scents display outstanding clarity and pick up smoky mineral and floral accents with air. Juicy and seamless in texture, showing excellent depth as well as energy to the red and blue fruit liqueur, spicecake and floral pastille flavors, which demonstrate impressive definition and back-end lift. Finishes extremely long and precise, with an echo of sweet dark berries and deftly woven tannins that add gentle grip.

I tasted a super young 2016 Torre Muga that had only been in bottle for some four months. But even so, the year seems to be approachable and open. Even if the wine has concentration and power, it has great balance and freshness. And it's drinkable now, even if it's going to get polished with some more time in bottle, where it should have a long life. This was the most modern of the wines in the portfolio, but I think the modern and traditional styles have been converging over the years, and nowadays there is not a huge difference between them. And for its age, it feels quite round, and it doesn't have edges or any harsh tannins; the oak is present but it's neatly integrated in the wine. It has to be one of the finest vintages for Torre Muga. 36,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in early 2019.