A great leap into the present from the aristocrats of Spanish wine
ALTHOUGH various books differ on 1852 or 1872 as the date Rioja's Marques de Murrieta was established, the correct date is 1852, giving it the pride of place. The other great wineries of the mid-19th century were Marques de Riscal (1860), Lopez de Espana (1877) and CVNE (Compania Vinicola del Norte de Espana) in 1879.
1978 Marques de Murrieta Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva
The role of Murrieta and Riscal was pivotal, as their noble-born founders had both spent a number of years in Bordeaux and brought back winemaking techniques that revolutionised the rough, rustic wines of earlier centuries that dated back to Roman times.
In 1983, Vicente Cebrian-Sagarriga, count of Creixell, acquired Marques de Murrieta, which in 1996 passed to his two children, Don Vicente Dalmau Cebrian-Sagarriga, the present count of Creixell, and his sister Cristina.
| FROM THE REGION |
| 1978 Marques de Murrieta Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva THE Cebrian-Sagarriga family has modernised many aspects of the business. No better example is the 1978 Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva ($299, 94 points). Vega Sicilia, arguably Spain's leading winery, is famous for leaving its top wine, Unico, in oak (of varying sizes at various times) for up to 20 years. Well, it has (or had) a competitor in Marques de Murrieta, for the 1978 spent 18 years in American oak. The feel is silky and supple, with a fusion of spice, vanilla and bramble fruits running through the very long palate. As with Vega Sicilia and many of the older Granges, there is an element of volatile acidity as a legacy of the oak ageing but it is simply a part of an amazing wine that must have been awesomely powerful in its youth. James Halliday |
The change in ownership resulted in a substantial extension of the elegant bodega (winery) and the expansion of the estate vineyards to 300ha, production increasing to 400,000 cases. As well as introducing new wines for the Marques de Murrieta range, Pazo de Barrantes in the Rias Baixas DO (region), home to the Creixell family since the 16th century, came into its own.
Here albarino had been grown and made on a small scale for generations but in 1983 plantings were extended, and in 1991 a modern winery was built marking the first release of the Pazo de Barrantes Albarinos. The 2007 ($39.99, 90 points) is scented and aromatic, the mouthfeel shaped by touches of honey, herb and fruit spice before a balancing injection of acidity on the finish.
The other white wine in the portfolio is the 2003 Marques de Murrieta Capellania ($47, 89 points) from 100 per cent viura (the most widely planted Spanish white grape, also known as macabeo), which is basket-pressed and spends two years in American oak. A rich, full-bodied wine, it reflects that oak but has just enough acidity to freshen the finish as it gradually ages in a slow-boat-to-China style. The 2003 Rioja Reserva ($52.99, 91 points), a blend of tempranillo, garnacha (grenache) and mazuelo (carignan), has a luscious, ripe entry into the mouth, moving to a quite different spicy, savoury finish; medium-bodied, it has good length and a satisfying aftertaste.
If that is a mainstream Rioja, the 204 Dalmau Rioja ($206, 94 points) is not. It comes from a specific block of low-yielding 50-year-old vines on the core Ygay Estate Vineyard (the original area planted) and is a blend of tempranillo, cabernet sauvignon and graciano. It has extended fermentation followed by 21 months' maturation in new French oak barriques. Deep red through to the rim, it offers a ripe and powerful fusion of black and plum fruit with French oak. Its alcohol (14.5 per cent alc/vol) is obvious, the tannin less so, and there is enough acidity to guarantee a long life. Total production is 2000 cases (the bottles are numbered) and the first vintage was 1998; not many bottles will leave the buoyant Spanish domestic market.
The last wine is the Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial, with its glorious and baroque label, never to be forgotten, least of all by the handful of Australian journalists who found a bottle of 1925 on a restaurant wine list at a now forgotten but very reasonable price during a trip to Spain. It was a quite beautiful wine, still full of life. The Ygay Castle sits in the centre of the estate and fittingly has a museum collection of Ygay wines dating back to 1852. Small museum releases are made from time to time and both the latest release of 1998 Castillo Ygay ($94.99, 94 points) and 1978 are available.
The 1998 is 85 per cent tempranillo, 13 per cent mazuelo and 2 per cent garnacha tinta (grenache), which spent 41 months in American oak, during which time it was repeatedly egg-white fined and racked. Brick red, the aromas are of spice and vanilla bean, dark fruits coming through on the seriously powerful and long palate, with an emphatic finish. Yet it is essentially medium (rather than full) bodied and has excellent balance. How will it develop over the next 20 years? Perhaps, and I use that word advisedly, the '78 will provide a clue.
