2023 Muga Rosado Rioja

This vintage was hallmarked by generous rainfall, which meant that the vines practically never stopped growing throughout the cycle. As a result, the canopy development was a key factor and conditioned the organoleptic features of the wine, in particular its aromas and acidity. The grapes’ natural acidity was enhanced, especially the malic acid, leading to typical “green apple”, Granny Smith-type descriptions of the aromas, and fruits at just the right point of ripeness, such as cherries, peaches, pineapple and citrus fruits. At the start of the vinification process we found that the acidity, a positive aspect on the nose, was excessively dominant on the palate. We had to wait a few months until the wine’s natural evolution smoothed off its sharp edges. On the one hand, the winter cold precipitated out part of the natural acids and on the other, the role played by the fine lees wrapped these sharp edges in a silky mantle. It is a vintage which repaid our patience and the skilled work in the selection of the grapes and work on the lees inside the winery. The result is a wine with shades of salmon-pink evolving towards bright copper in the bulb. With the glass held still, the fruit comes to the fore with a rich range of nuances: cherry, apple, peach, pineapple and even white blossom and fennel, not found very often in this wine. And not forgetting the omnipresent pastry shop aroma produced by the fine lees. On the palate the three-way relationship of bitter-acid-sweet flavours makes the tasting a true joy, intense and long, very long… leaving excellent sensations in the aftertaste which make you want to come back for more. We end with a retronasal stage in which the notes described above are reversed, with the white blossom and fennel becoming dominant.

-bodegasmuga.com