Marqués de Murrieta didn't produce their top red in 2008, so I tasted the 2009 Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial. In 2009, the final blend was Tempranillo with 19% Mazuelo (or Cariñena), one of the highest percentages of Mazuelo ever. The grapes are now sourced from the La Plana vineyard within the Ygay estate, one of the higher-altitude plots at 485 meters. The grapes fermented and aged separately, the Tempranillo in American oak barrels and the Mazuelo in French barriques for 26 months, given its power. It has that seriousness, character and somehow rusticity of the Mazuelo, austere, harmonious and still young. It has good depth and concentration, still young and lively with fine tannins and a backbone of freshness that lifts it up. It will develop for a very long time in bottle. This is a great classical Rioja for the long haul. 109,000 bottles and some larger formats were produced. It was bottled in October 2014. The prices are increasing but so is the quality. The following vintages will be 2010, 2011 and possibly 2012. I cannot wait to taste them...

(aged in new American and French oak barrels for 28 months) Vivid ruby-red. A highly perfumed, expansive bouquet evokes ripe red and dark berries, cherry liqueur, coconut and cigar box, along with a sexy floral nuance that emerges slowly. Plush and seamless on the palate, offering sweet, deeply concentrated blackberry, cherry-vanilla and mocha flavors that are given spine and lift by a core of juicy acidity. Rich yet energetic in style, displaying superb finishing clarity, even tannins and a lingering spicecake note. The Tempranillo saw only American oak while the Mazuelo component saw only French.

81% Tempranillo, 19% Mazuelo. Vineyards from La Plana, a small plot surrounding the better-known Finca Ygay (Logroño), at 485 m. Old bush vines managed by precision viticulture. Made only in exceptional years. Hand-harvested, bunches are destemmed and alcoholic fermentation took place by variety in stainless-steel vats. Ageing for 26 months in barrels of 225-litre American oak for Tempranillo and French oak for Mazuelo. 109,045 bottles. Garnet without being tawny yet. Everything is integrated and very well done, so it clearly has a long life ahead. It holds the fruit intensity. Very promising. Its fine texture is great, with complexity and forest-floor sensations. Polished tannins over layers of fruit. It is young for a 10-year-old! It has not yet developed any tertiary notes. Amazing potential. I am moved by it! (FC)