Marques de Murrieta, Gran Res Rioja

To be classified as a “Reserva”, a wine must spend one year or more in oak, followed by two or more in bottle. Fruit for Marqués de Murrieta’s Reserva is hand-harvested from the Ygay Estate on the southernmost point of Rioja Alta, some 320 to 485 metres above sea level. Predominantly Tempranillo, with the remainder composed of Graciano, Garnacha, and Mazuelo (also known as Carignan). Hand-harvested fruit is de-stemmed and fermented in cool stainless steel, then pressed in a vertical press – a gentle means of extracting juice. The wine spends 16 months in new and neutral American oak barrels, then nearly a year and a half in bottle prior to release.