Wine & Spirits - December 2021 - 75

90 | Bruna Grimaldi
$45
2017 Barolo Camilla (BEST BUY) ^ Fresh floral
scents and soft herbal notes accent ripe
cherry flavors in this understated, almost
delicate wine. Those fruit flavors gain flesh
with exposure to air, picking up subtle licorice
hints. Appealing now, if not destined for
long-term cellaring. § Massanois, NY
90 | Marcarini
$96
2017 Barolo Serra ^ Medium-bodied and
light in color, this wine comes across as
understated and almost delicate, revealing
layers of soft herbs, dried leaves and orange
peel in its red cherry flavors. Those flavors
may flesh out with a few years to balance the
taut, leathery tannins. § Empson USA, NY
90 | Marcarini
$98
2017 Barolo Brunate ^ Flavors of candied
cherry and red plum take on an earthy edge
with exposure to air, revealing notes of tar
and damp leaves that balance the sweet fruit
tones. This is a midweight wine that offers
some early appeal. § Empson USA, NY
90 | Casa E. di Mirafiore $190
2015 Barolo Riserva ^ This Riserva, made
with fruit from plots in Barolo and Serralunga
d'Alba, shows some classic tar and
rose notes and soft red- and black-fruit flavors
laced with hints of licorice and mint.
Developed notes of dried mushroom and
forest floor add intrigue. § Trinity Wine &
Spirits, NY
90 | Casa E. di Mirafiore $110
2017 Barolo Paiagallo ^ Notes of mortared
herbs and bright orange peel accent this
wine's sweet cherry flavors. The tannins are
firm and ferrous, keeping those sappy fruit
tones cool as warm spice notes emerge. § Trinity
Wine & Spirits, NY
90 | Giulia Negri
$85
2016 Barolo Serradenari ^ From a high-elevation
plot in western La Morra, this wine
is cool and juicy, its midweight frame filled
with herb-inflected flavors of red cherry that
take on savory and smoky notes with exposure
to air. § Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant,
Berkeley, CA
88 | Fontanafredda
$43
2017 Barolo Silver Label (BEST BUY) ^ Sturdy,
mouthcoating tannins frame flavors of fleshy
cherry tinged with menthol in this wine,
which includes fruit from all eleven of Barolo's
communes. § Taub Family Selections, Port
Washington, NY l
Our blind panels tasted 288 wines for this
issue. Joshua Greene, our critic for Rioja
wines, rated 71 as exceptional (90+) and
21 as Best Buys. Find a complete list of
wines tasted and all reviews at
wineandspiritsmagazine.com.
Rioja
Reds
blackberries, completely saturated and yet
not at all heavy, with a refinement that makes
the wine feel welcoming and open. Decant
it now for a wine that's hard to resist. § Jorge
Ordóñez Selections, Dedham, MA
95 | Muga
$95
96 | Muga
$50
2016 Rioja Selección Especial Reserva ^
This grows at high altitudes, inhigh-density
plantings on ancient terraces above the Ebro
river, some of the vines dating to 1946, the
youngest planted in 1986. Those alluvial soils
and old vines performed remarkably well in
2016, delivering a fresh blend-tempranillo,
garnacha, mazuelo and graciano-with cool,
silken tannins and the sort of peppery spice
you might find in fresh-pressed olive oil. It's
bright and juicy, layering thyme and rosemary
fragrance into the fruit complexity. A
glorious young Rioja suited to aging, or to
drinking now with spit-roasted suckling pig. §
Jorge Ordóñez Selections, Dedham, MA
95 | Viñedos
Sierra Cantabria
$40
2011 Rioja Gran Reserva ^ This grows at
the Eguren family's estate vineyards in San
Vicente de la Sonsierra, where the vines and
then the long aging took this wine into a
realm of pure deliciousness. It starts from a
tight focus on black fruit and tobacco smoke,
then builds to a crescendo as that fruit
expands into violets, red apples and fresh
2014 Rioja Prado Enea Gran Reserva ^ The
Muga family got its start as winegrowers in
Villalba, in the eastern mountains of Rioja
Alta, where they still tend small parcels that
provide some of their top selections, including
Prado Enea. This wine ferments in large
oak vats without added yeasts, then ages in
mostly French oak barrels. Once bottled, it
rests at least three years at the winery before
release. Now seven years old, the wine's luminous
color seems to infuse its flavors, emphasizing
mountain freshness rather than any
overt acidity. Its red-fruit intensities range
from boysenberry to cherry and cherry
tomato, all of it layered into a texture that's
supple and complex. A classic with a long life
ahead. § Jorge Ordóñez Selections, Dedham, MA
94 | Paco García
2015 Rioja Beautiful Things ^ When Juan
Bautista García and his wife, Ana, took over
the family's winery, they set out to rethink
Rioja, to make wines their friends would
want to drink. Beautiful Things is their top
selection, from vines planted in 1943 by
García's grandfather, at Viñedo La Dehesa
in his hometown of Murillo de Río Leza.
The mother rock is limestone, under deposits
of clay and sandstone. Jenna May Cass
of Départ Wine in Great Barrington, Mass.,
nailed Garcia's intentions as communicated
directly through the wine: " When romantic
feeling meets good winemaking. " For
the moment, this 2015 has more structure
than scent, the limestone fortification walls
of a castle of tannins, holding depths of red
cherry fruit inside with waves of blackberry
flavor crashing against the walls. The spice,
fruit and structure are all bound together in
a tight space, with beautiful balance and density,
needing bottle age to allow easier access. §
Not currently imported
D E c E mb ER 2021
WINE & SPIR IT S
75
https://www.bodegasmuga.com/en/prado-enea-gran-reserva/ http://www.wineandspiritsmagazine.com https://www.bodegasmuga.com/en/muga-reserva-seleccion-especial/
Wine & Spirits - December 2021

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