Dark staining garnet tincture, colloidal sediment and a nose buried in tapanade and inner-tube. Slightly fading, slightly initial-tired, the mascarpone of the first nose alarmed but then settled down and showed signs of fruit and brilliance almost immediately.

Here’s the dealio with Muga. I know you all love and adore Reserva and Especial and even Torre and Aro, but right here in the middle is the best wine Muga makes. And everybody ignores it. Prado Enea is HANDS DOWN the best wine this Rioja house makes, and yet it rarely gets any ink in favor of the square-shouldered bling-oak offerings. To wit: I wander into this restaurant ran by a former Henry Wine Group principal whose list runs the breadth and depth of the world and which Muga does he have? Does he have the blingy Mugas popular on Instagram and twitter? No. He has the Prado Enea, of course. Because he is smart.

In the mouth, shrill acid attempt to break up the fruit which hasn’t MOVED since 2006. This whole package tasted pretty much as offered on release, now only there is the patina to deal with. Gorgeous buttery nut and vanilla on fire frame the bright sweet-tart fruit still so acidic it’s like peeling a lemon alongside the rich cherry. Riserva could never TOUCH this–it would be fat and flabby by now (and I’ve tasted it at such ages and it is true).

You do not often get to experience non-French european wine at this age with this kind of solidarity to style and structure. If you can’t experience this wine at 10+, I recommend finding as much of it as you can and laying it aside–if you CAN.

2006 BODEGAS MUGA Prado Enea Temp/GR 80/20 Rioja Spain 14.0

bodegasmuga.com
Purchase the 06: Pico Los Alamos
epic-winesandspirits.com