Muga Torre Muga Rioja 2021

98 points Jeb Dunnuck
The 2021 Torre Muga is a big baby, still developing, remarkable in its wafty layers of 90% Tempranillo and complements of Mazuelo and Graciano. Gentle extraction is the key, the grapes coming from small plots of low-yielding older vines in Villalba de Rioja, Brinas, and Labastida. Smoky cinnamon and balsamic provide a sultry character to the berry fruit before going into new Allier oak barrels for 18 months. It has concentrated volume and full-bodied power, a gorgeous wine from a gorgeous vintage that’s worth the price. Structured to develop further another 20-25 years, it should hit its prime in about five.

97 points James Suckling
#70 in Top 100 Wines of Spain 2025. In classic Torre Muga style, this is structured but polished with a fine, woodsy smokiness that delivers depth to the nose. There’s a minty edge to the excellent layers of rich but fresh blackberries with dried herbs, pine cones, rosemary and lard. Well-integrated, caressing tannins are almost powdery. Really long. Drink from 2026.

Traditional viticulture of Rioja Alta. Proprietary head trained and trellised vineyards planted in high altitude areas of Rioja Alta. Organic, uncertified. The grapes for Torre Muga are selected from the coolest climate growing regions in Rioja Alta. These zones, near the Oja-Tiron rivers, are the last to fully ripen in Rioja Alta. The grapes are sorted extensively at the winery and undergo indigenous yeast fermentation in open top oak fermenters that are produced at the winery. The wine is transferred to French oak barrels following the primary fermentation. The wine spends 24 months in French oak, 18 of which are in 225L barriques produced at the winery. The other six months are spent in large oak vats produced at the winery.