Marqués de Murrieta - Rioja Gran Reserva 'Capellania' 2018

Capellanía single-vineyard. Planted in 1945 located on a plateau at an altitude of 485 metres, the highest point of the Ygay Estate, our 300-hectare estate in Rioja Alta.

A wine of limited production from a centennial single vineyard, which has been kept for a year and a half in new French oak barrels and one year in bottle; giving an astonishing complexity, structure and elegance. It is a very singular white wine, with the soul of a red wine which surprises all who taste it. A white wine that exceeds all expectations with its complexity and structure, it combines the quality of selected grapes grown on a traditional singe vineyard, which gives its name to the wine and of a balanced aging in new French oak barrels for a year and a half. The result is a surprising white wine of great bouquet, a white wine of character born to surprise by its uniqueness and perfect to accompany a great variety of rich dishes, with a magnificent potential to evolve and last gracefully in the bottle.

"To catch up with the current vintages that I shall review every 12 months from now on, I tasted two vintages of some of the wines, including the whites. The 2018 Capellanía is 100% Viura from the plot that names the wine. The vineyard is six hectares planted in 1945 at 485 meters altitude, the highest in the estate. It fermented in concrete, the first vintage to do so, as it was fermented in stainless steel until then, and matured in second-use French oak barrels for 22 months. It spent a further seven months in concrete, a long élevage, with the idea to produce a structured white with aging potential, while keeping the varietal character. The wine is subtle and elegant, following the path of all the wines in the portfolio here, still marked by the élevage in oak, spicy and smoky. The palate is balanced, with a nice combination of fruit and oak, with a soft texture, clean, focused and tasty. It has 14% alcohol, a low pH of 3.1 and 6.10 grams of acidity. 21,836 bottled and 688 magnums produced. It was bottled in July 2022. This is now released with the Gran Reserva back label." - 94 points, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

"The one wine that has potential to become even subtler and more complex than Murrieta’s Ygay is its Capellanía. Showing how the well-kept traditions of Rioja can be informed by today’s knowledge, it is a most refined wine, made after very long ageing in French barriques. An inimitable mix of a unique vineyard and exceptional wisdom.” - 97 points, Decanter

Producer: Marqués de Murrieta

Country: Spain

Region: Rioja

Varietal: Viura

Appellation: Rioja

Vintage: 2018

Size: 750ml