MUGA 'Prado Enea' Gran Reserva 2016 [magnum]

Druvor

Tempranillo, garnacha, mazuelo & graciano

Tasting note

Prado Enea grapes are always the last to be harvested. It is a matter of careful selection of vineyard plots at altitude with grapes of fine quality, located in the northwest corner of the Rioja Alta, in the villages of Sajazarra, Cellorigo and Fonzaleche. The grapes ferment in oak vats. Maceration is for 14 to 16 days. Following this the wine spends a minimum of 36 months ageing in French- and American-oak casks, to give it greater complexity. At the end of this period of ageing, the wine is lightly fined using fresh egg whites before bottling and then remains in our cellar for at least a further 36 months in order to complete the ageing process by providing elegance to the wine.

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Prado Enea Gran Reserva 2016 has a black- cherry colour with medium depth. On the nose we find an elegant collection of forest fruit (blackberries) with spices like cloves and cinnamon. It has a silky-smooth attack with medium body and a very long, pleasant passage through the mouth.We find velvety tannins in perfect harmony with its fresh and well-integrated acidity. You can also find creamy and vanilla notes mingling with fresh fruit.

The wine team - Muga

Se specifikation and tasting notes

VINIFICATION

The grapes used for making Prado Enea, along with those for Torre Muga, are always the last ones to be brought into the winery. This late picking ensures ideal ripening. The grapes are then fermented naturally in 10,000-kilo oak vats with no temperature control or added yeasts. The maceration time can vary and may go on for up to twenty days. This wine is aged in 16,000-litre capacity oak vats for twelve months and then (minimum) thirty-six months in oak casks and (minimum) thirty-six months in the bottle. After cask-ageing the wine is gently fined using fresh egg whites.

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Bodegas Muga vineyards are located on the foot of the Montes Obarenses, within the area called Rioja Alta. The site climate is exceptional due to, on the one hand, the singular geography and orientation of the vines and on the other hand, the surrounding climates –Mediterranean, Atlantic and Continental climates are combined harmoniously thus creating a suitable climatic for grape growing.

The soil in this area is mostly clay and limestone, divided into small terroirs with different physical and chemical qualities between them; thus each terroir has a unique and defined personality. This abundance of climatic influences and different soils define prolonged stages in the vine growth cycle. The growth will be complex and delicate, key to the potential quality of the wines in this area.

Bodegas Muga owns 620 acres of vineyards but it also has control over 370 acres owned by vine growers in the area. The grape varieties grown are Tempranillo (the essence), Garnacha (Grenache), Mazuelo (Carignan) and Graciano for the red wines; and Viura and Malvasia are used for the white wines.

How do we produce our wines?

The first thing to do when grapes arrive in the winery is to assess their quality by analyzing important parameters, such as total acidity, colour, degree of alcohol and physical condition. According to these parameters grape will be classified into different quality groups, rejecting the fruit that does not reach the required levels for our wines. The grapes used for ARO, Torre Muga and Prado Enea are harvested in small boxes (20 kg capacity) so that they get to the winery in perfect condition. Then the grape bunches go through the selection tables, where those that do not fulfil the required quality are discarded. After that, the grape bunches go through the destemming process, where the stems are separated from the grape berries. Finally the grapes are put into the fermentation vessels.

Fermentation is a natural process of slowly converting the sugar contained in the fruit to ethanol. Contact between the juice and the skin is essential for both colour extraction and aroma. Bodegas Muga has four fermentation rooms containing 90 wooden casks –their capacities ranging from three thousand to fifteen thousand kilos. Thanks to this broad range, Bodegas Muga can make different wines depending on the fruit quality and the vineyards they come from.

Following traditional methods, Bodegas Muga uses oak throughout all the wine-making process (fermentation, ageing and store). As a matter of fact, Bodegas Muga is one of the very few Spanish wineries that employ three coopers plus a "cubero" (who specializes in the big casks). They are in charge of working with the oak wood that will finally give that unique and personal touch to our wines.

Once the alcoholic fermentation takes place, wine will naturally carry out the secondary fermentation, also called malolactic fermentation. Later on, wines start their ageing, in a large wooden container, which can last from 24 to 36 months, depending on the wine category. Every four months wine has to be moved from the barrels where it has been sitting to new empty barrels. This is called trasiega (racking) and helps clear the wine from the settled sediment or lees that have precipitated during the ageing process. Racking also provides aeration.

Once the red wine is aged but before it is bottled, fining (clarification) is done in Bodegas Muga. The method used is traditional --using egg whites. Two to three egg whites are enough for 100 liters of red wine. The egg whites drag any remaining sediments and absorb harsh and bitter tannins leaving behind the softer tannins. Fining is done in oak containers with capacity for 17,500 liters. Once the process of fining is done, the wine is extracted from the container and bottled. The egg whites together with the lees at the bottom of the container will be used to produce balanced, high quality compost, which in turn will be used to fertilize the soil, in a naturally biological process.

Once the wine is bottled, it will remain in the winery for a time that ranges from 9 months (Crianza) to 36 months (Prado Enea Gran Reserva). During this time the wine refines in the bottle. Thus, the enjoyment is guaranteed the moment the wine is available for the consumer.

The wine team - Muga