Bodegas Marqués de Murrieta was founded by Luciano Francisco Ramon de Murrieta, a man born in Peru, of all places, in 1822. His life in South America was short-lived, however, as in 1824 the battle of Ayacucho saw Peru secure its independence from the Spaniards, and the Murrieta family left for a new life in England. Here Luciano spent a lot of time with his uncle, General Rivero de Murrieta, who worked in the city as a banker, and reputedly had spent much of his life acquainting himself with the fine wines of the world. With his coming of age, however, Luciano enlisted in the Spanish armed forces, although he continued to live his life between Spain and London. As a consequence Luciano was conscious not only of a wine-thirsty market in London, but also of the huge quantity and diversity of wines that Spain potentially had to offer; when Luciano returned to Spain for good in 1844, the die was cast. Luciano had decided to make great wine, and to export it to discerning customers worldwide.
In 1848 he travelled to Bordeaux, to study; four years later he had returned to Rioja and was making wine. Another four years saw the first serious commercial exploit, as Murrieta waved goodbye to 100 barrels of Rioja, en route for Mexico and Cuba. Although one half of the cargo was lost, what reached the shore was a resounding success. Luciano continued in wine, and eventually, in 1878, he purchased his own estate at Ygay, not far from Logroño. His venture was a resounding success, sufficiently so for Queen Isabel II, who had enticed her loyal servant back to Spain following her coronation in 1844, to confer on him the title of Marquesado de Murrieta; and so the estate of Marqués de Murrieta was born.
Luciano died a bachelor in 1911, at the venerable age of 89, and the estate passed to his nephew, Julián de Olivares, who held tenure until his death in 1977. The estate was then sold to Vicente Cebrián Sagarriga, Count of Creixell. Tragically, death once again stole the estate of its proprietor, and Vicente''s widow and children took the helm. It is Vicente''s son, Vicente Dalmau Cebrián-Sagarriga, with his sister Cristina, that now drives the estate forward, together with their whirlwind technical director Maria Vargas.
Marqués de Murrieta: The Vines and the Wines
They now oversee over 300 hectares of vineyards located close to Logroño, near the border between Rioja Alta and Rioja Baja. Naturally the vines are dominated by Tempranillo, accounting for 75% of the vineyard, with Mazuelo, Garnacha and Graziano largely making up the balance, with lesser quantities of white varieties, including Viura, Malvasia and, unusually, Garnacha Blanca. Many of the vineyards, including the plots that give rise to the modern-day super-cuvée Dalmau, lie on the hills behind the winery looking down onto Logroño, and from my inspection of them when I visited the estate in the summer of 2007 they appear to include a number of ungrafted vines. The fruit is harvested by hand and then transported down to the impressive facilities at the Marqués de Murrieta estate. Here practices are largely traditional; the white wines are pressed and then fermented using temperature control, at 18ºC. The red wines are fermented at 30ºC, and unusually they are subject to mechanical pigeage (submerging the cap of skins, pips and other solids within the fermenting juice) using a machine of French design. The resulting wine is pressed in elderly cage presses, with up to 20% of the press wine blended in. The wines see mostly American oak, with less than 1% of the barrels sourced from France. Only a tiny proportion are replaced each year, so the wines are not significantly influenced by the use of new wood.
Marqués de Murrieta produces a range of wines, both red and white. Heading up the collection is a wine destined for long term cellaring, the Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial, which is probably one of the most well-known wines produced here, if not in the whole of Rioja. It is a traditional Tempranillo dominated blend, which following on from six months in vat will often see in excess of 36 months in American oak before bottling. There is also a Reserva Especial, a similar blend also subject to prolonged wood ageing; both wines are only made in the best vintages, otherwise Marqués de Murrieta will produce a range of standard Gran Reservas and Reservas. There are also jóvene red and white wines, under the Colección 2100 label. The white is 90% Viura with 5% each Malvasia and Garnacha Blanca, whereas the red is 75% Tempranillo, the balance Mazuelo, then Garnacha, then a little Graciano. Overall this bodega is a reliable source of classic, long-ageing reds, and the Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva certainly has a place in my cellar; the 1989 has been excellent, whereas the 1995, representing one of the finer vintages of the last two decades, demonstrates potential at present. They are both, however, suitable for cellaring for much longer periods of time. Marqués de Murrieta also has a reputation as a rare source of reliable white Rioja, including a white Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva; in recent years there has also been the Capellania Rioja Reserva Blanco, indicating the vineyard of origin, a wine I have tasted several times but, despite this, until I visited the Marqués de Murrieta estate I don''t seem to have made a permanent record of my impressions. Around the same time as this new designation, essentially a renaming of the pre-existing white Rioja Reserva, the range saw a genuinely new introduction. Dalmau is a Rioja Reserva, joining the fray in the 1995 vintage, which swells the ranks of more modern, internationally styled wines produced by many of the top Rioja bodegas. This is distinguished from the pre-existing portfolio not only by the inclusion of 10% Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend, alongside the 85% Tempranillo and 5% Graciano, but also by the use of small French barriques, in which the wine is aged for a period of typically 19 months. The result is a different style which, although certainly of merit, may not appeal to those who appreciate the more traditional style of Rioja.
Looking beyond matters of style, however, Marques de Murrieta is unquestionably one of the leading bodegas in Rioja; Vicente not only turns out an admirable selection of wines, but also one of the Rioja benchmarks, the Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial. For this reason, above any other, this is an estate that all Rioja-curious wine drinkers should investigate. The white Rioja, Capellania, is also a wine of merit, For those that find the style not to their taste, fear not; the wines of Pazo de Barrantes - under the same ownership - are also well worth seeking out. I include notes on these wines, alongside those for Murrieta, below. (29/3/01, last updated 20/2/08)
Contact details:
Address: Ctra. de Zaragoza, Km 5, 26006 Logroño
Telephone: +34 941 271 370
Fax: +34 941 251 606
Internet: www.marquesdemurrieta.com
