BODEGAS MUGA

This month, we’re taking a slightly different approach by spotlighting a single bottle from one exceptional producer. The focus this month will be on the esteemed Spanish winery Bodegas Muga, one of the most well regarded producers in Rioja. While the Muga family had been associated with viticulture in northwestern Rioja dating as far back as the 16th century, it wasn’t until 1932 that Isaac Muga and his wife Aurora Caño, reportedly a great wine taster who was able to identify different plots of land and the villages by taste, opened their own cellar. They met while working at La Rioja Alta S.A. where Isaac’s father worked as cellar master. Originally starting as negociants under the name Claretes Muga (Rioja Clarete was the name of the traditional rosé of the region) in the city of Haro, they bought wine from wineries and vineyards to blend and age with a focus on making rosé and young red wines for the first thirty years of the company.  It wasn’t until the 1960s and the move to their current cellars in El Barrio de la Estación that the family shifted their focus from bulk wine to Reservas and Gran Reservas under the watch of the 2nd generation, brothers Manuel and Isacín.  The winery has gained world renown while remaining family-owned, with Manuel's children Manu, Juan, Eduardo, and Ana in charge of sales, management, and communication, while their cousins oversee viticulture and winemaking with Jorge focused on reds while Isaac focused on whites and rosés. Being a 100% family business has allowed them to make long- term decisions and make significant investments in old vineyards.

Bodegas Muga stands as one of the most traditional wineries in the world, where every stage of winemaking still takes place in oak barrels and vats. The winery employs a dedicated team solely for barrel management, carrying out racking by gravity and inspecting wines for sediment by candlelight. Every barrel and vat is crafted on-site by Muga’s own cooperage team—making it the only winery in Spain with its own master cooper. The master cooper’s son also works at the estate and is currently training to follow in his father’s footsteps. Each year, the Muga family travels to France and other regions to personally select oak trees, which are later fashioned into staves and seasoned for several years at the winery’s facilities.

Flor de Muga is a higher-tier, single-vineyard wine that differs from Muga's "regular" wines through its use of premium fruit from older vines, a more meticulous winemaking process, and longer aging. While standard Muga wines are a blend of various plots, Flor de Muga is made from a very specific, strict selection of grapes from high-altitude old vines, resulting in a more complex, elegant, and refined wine. 

Think Pink!

Justin Malesheetz-Wine Buyer