Bodegas Muga Torre Muga 2006, Rioja

This is an ultra-modern and extracted international-style Riojas from the famous Torres Muga. Powerful, intense and very lively, anxious to please from the start. Almost perfect mingling of red-berry fruit and toasted oak aromas on the nose, with the fruit coming to the fore in the mouth and rounding off a supple, balanced overall effect. Awarded WA93, this wine is great contrast to the more traditional Riojas such as their Reserva and Prado Enea. With powerful aromas of red and black cherries, as well as vanilla, cedar and mushroom notes, this wine also shows a bit of the overripe notes of the Torre Muga. On the palate, these overripe accents are skillfully balanced by red, tangy fruits in a fairly lengthy finish. Drink now or over the next five or so years.

The philosophy behind Torre Muga is to make small batches of a modern wine using both a very traditional blend of Rioja varitetals and classic techniques. Only the best grapes from the winery are used, and they undergo an intense selection process on the triage table after harvest. Following fermentation in oak vats, the wine is aged for six months in wooden vats, 18 months in new French Allier oak barrels, and 12 months in bottle. It is fined with egg whites and bottled unfiltered.

We all love this wine.