Ramblings on Murrieta, Old Rioja, and Regrets
Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2021 5:50 am
A picture of an old Murrieta Reserva and a couple of comments by Ian and Jamie on the "What Are You Drinking Tonight" thread prompted me to write this post.
I was just starting to collect wines when I came across Marques de Murrieta. It was in the late 80s and was imported into Edmonton by one of two private wines stores allowed by the Government of Albera in Edmonton. The owner of the store, the late Hank Gillespie, said to me that Murrieta was a very traditional producer and they routinely exceed Rioja's barrel aging regulations. He said that in effect Murrieta' Murrieta's crianza was more akin to a reserva and their reservas to a gran reserva. That was back in the mid to late 80s, so the 1986 Murrieta Reserva that Jamie had was likely a gran reserva in terms of barrel and bottle aging.
(To see the post & picture: http://forum.auswine.com.au/viewtopic.php?f ... start=5520)
Back when I was starting to collect I mostly bought in pairs, occasionally a single bottle of a pricey wines that were above my usual budget.This was becasue I wanted to have a broad cellar with disparate wines from all over. As a result I only bought pairs of 1981 and 1982 Murrieta's 'Etiqueta Blanca' (white label) Crianza - both the red and the white. However it is what I didn't buy that forms one of my biggest regret.
The store also had on hand Murrieta's 1942 Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial for something like C$50 a bottle - big sigh as I write this.It was already over 40 years old when I saw it and foolishly presumed that it was a special occasion wine meant for current drinking and not one for cellaring. However I was wrong as over time I've since realized that Riojas age exceedingly well. I can't help thinking that the 1942 might have cellared for a little bit before it needed drinking. It pains me to think that today I could have had a 69 year old wine in the cellar. As I write this, it occurred to me that I should check tp see if there are any Cellar Tracker notes - so off I go. Well, what do you know, the last 10 tasting notes, from 2018 going back to 2013, all rated the wine 95 points and above. So it is not dead and apparently a very fine wine. And then, to make me feel worse I'll check Wine Searcher. It shows that the wine currently retails for about C$650. Too much information is not necessarily a good thing: change the above "sigh" to unqualified depression. If today wasn't a dry day I'd be having a swig of whisky to drown my sorrows. The highest price for this is wine is C$1,500, and the US retailer offers the following: "The 1942 is from what is widely regarded as one of the top vintages in Rioja in the last century. The 1942 harvest occurred as Spain was still recovering from a brutal civil war and the rest of Europe had dissolved into the chaos and tragedy of World War II. This wine was aged in barrels for 40 years before being bottled in 1983. A true gem and an amazing opportunity. Only 1 bottle available." Good thing there's no gun or razor handy - I have just switched to the double-bladed razor so I could get up and go to the bathroom.
While I didn't buy the Castillo Ygay, I did spend a little bit more for a pair of 1982 Leoville Las Cases that Parker assured me was a 100 point wine (Hah!) that would cellar for decades. Today, knowing what I know, I would trade the Las Cases for the Castillo Ygay in a heartbeat. I have had a bottle of the 1989 Castillo Ygay courtesy of a friend but we drank it far too young and it wasn't really expressive - at least not then. It is of course a different wine now, apart from the vintage. If the retailer is to be believed the 1942 was bottled in 1983 - 41 years later. Today Murrieta is currently selling the 2010 vintage. In addition the website says it is made from a single vineyard wine planted in 1950, so definitely from different vines if not from a number of vineyards.
Back to Jamie's comment. The old Riojas I cellared were inexpensive enough that I got to drink quite a few of them with my friends. The traditional method was uniform enough that a Rioja was easily identified in a blind tasting. We used to say that there was no point is serving a Rioja blind unless it was simply to guess the category, crianza, reserva, or gran reserva.
In 2019 my red wine of the year was a 1981 Bodegas Riojana Reserva - a 38 year old Rioja. I was going to pull out a 1978 Gran Reserva for the occasion but noticed that the ullage on the '81 was rather low. I cannot help but contrast this with a modernist Marques de Caceres 2004 'Gaudium' Reserva that I had a few years ago. It was a complete mess of stew-like fruit and new oak (though some joker on Cellar Tracker recently gave it 99 points). I feel certain that the Caceres wines from the 70s were an entirely different beast.
Cheers ................................. Mahmoud.
Never mind a glance, for me old Rioja deserves a full on glare!Ian S wrote:Is it wrong of me to be casting glances at the Ygay?
I was just starting to collect wines when I came across Marques de Murrieta. It was in the late 80s and was imported into Edmonton by one of two private wines stores allowed by the Government of Albera in Edmonton. The owner of the store, the late Hank Gillespie, said to me that Murrieta was a very traditional producer and they routinely exceed Rioja's barrel aging regulations. He said that in effect Murrieta' Murrieta's crianza was more akin to a reserva and their reservas to a gran reserva. That was back in the mid to late 80s, so the 1986 Murrieta Reserva that Jamie had was likely a gran reserva in terms of barrel and bottle aging.
(To see the post & picture: http://forum.auswine.com.au/viewtopic.php?f ... start=5520)
Back when I was starting to collect I mostly bought in pairs, occasionally a single bottle of a pricey wines that were above my usual budget.This was becasue I wanted to have a broad cellar with disparate wines from all over. As a result I only bought pairs of 1981 and 1982 Murrieta's 'Etiqueta Blanca' (white label) Crianza - both the red and the white. However it is what I didn't buy that forms one of my biggest regret.
The store also had on hand Murrieta's 1942 Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial for something like C$50 a bottle - big sigh as I write this.It was already over 40 years old when I saw it and foolishly presumed that it was a special occasion wine meant for current drinking and not one for cellaring. However I was wrong as over time I've since realized that Riojas age exceedingly well. I can't help thinking that the 1942 might have cellared for a little bit before it needed drinking. It pains me to think that today I could have had a 69 year old wine in the cellar. As I write this, it occurred to me that I should check tp see if there are any Cellar Tracker notes - so off I go. Well, what do you know, the last 10 tasting notes, from 2018 going back to 2013, all rated the wine 95 points and above. So it is not dead and apparently a very fine wine. And then, to make me feel worse I'll check Wine Searcher. It shows that the wine currently retails for about C$650. Too much information is not necessarily a good thing: change the above "sigh" to unqualified depression. If today wasn't a dry day I'd be having a swig of whisky to drown my sorrows. The highest price for this is wine is C$1,500, and the US retailer offers the following: "The 1942 is from what is widely regarded as one of the top vintages in Rioja in the last century. The 1942 harvest occurred as Spain was still recovering from a brutal civil war and the rest of Europe had dissolved into the chaos and tragedy of World War II. This wine was aged in barrels for 40 years before being bottled in 1983. A true gem and an amazing opportunity. Only 1 bottle available." Good thing there's no gun or razor handy - I have just switched to the double-bladed razor so I could get up and go to the bathroom.
While I didn't buy the Castillo Ygay, I did spend a little bit more for a pair of 1982 Leoville Las Cases that Parker assured me was a 100 point wine (Hah!) that would cellar for decades. Today, knowing what I know, I would trade the Las Cases for the Castillo Ygay in a heartbeat. I have had a bottle of the 1989 Castillo Ygay courtesy of a friend but we drank it far too young and it wasn't really expressive - at least not then. It is of course a different wine now, apart from the vintage. If the retailer is to be believed the 1942 was bottled in 1983 - 41 years later. Today Murrieta is currently selling the 2010 vintage. In addition the website says it is made from a single vineyard wine planted in 1950, so definitely from different vines if not from a number of vineyards.
I can well appreciate Jamie's skill in blind tasting, [Edit: I had meant to add "given his wide exposure to aged examples of old wines from around the world"], but in serving an old style Rioja his friend should have known better. Riojas used to be made differently and today there are only a handful traditional producers, notable Lopez de Heredia and La Rioja Alta. Back when I was collecting almost all were traditional in some fashion. While I was buying the Murrieta Crianzas I was also buying 1970s Riojas for not much more. I'm sure the fact that I had already stashed away some older bottles may have also influenced my decision to pass on the Castillo Ygay. There is a measure of consolation in that I now have bottles of Rioja that is now almost the same age as that 1942 at the time. Mind you it's only a small consolation.JamieBahrain wrote: I picked Ygay blind which upset the friend who brought it along.
Back to Jamie's comment. The old Riojas I cellared were inexpensive enough that I got to drink quite a few of them with my friends. The traditional method was uniform enough that a Rioja was easily identified in a blind tasting. We used to say that there was no point is serving a Rioja blind unless it was simply to guess the category, crianza, reserva, or gran reserva.
In 2019 my red wine of the year was a 1981 Bodegas Riojana Reserva - a 38 year old Rioja. I was going to pull out a 1978 Gran Reserva for the occasion but noticed that the ullage on the '81 was rather low. I cannot help but contrast this with a modernist Marques de Caceres 2004 'Gaudium' Reserva that I had a few years ago. It was a complete mess of stew-like fruit and new oak (though some joker on Cellar Tracker recently gave it 99 points). I feel certain that the Caceres wines from the 70s were an entirely different beast.
Cheers ................................. Mahmoud.
