Marques de Murrieta Capellania White 2015
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Robert - Decanter
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The 2015 Marques de Murrieta Capellania White Reserva is a deep golden color, its complex aroma and rich taste are the hallmarks of this world famous white wine.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
One of two vintages I tasted of the single-vineyard white, the just-bottled 2015 Capellanía was cropped from a warm and healthy year, and the wine matured in new French oak barrels for 15 months. Like it happened with the rosé, the two vintages I tasted of this white—2015 and 2014—are also very different, with 2015 a more homogeneous year and the 2014 quite a bit more challenging. 2015 was a healthy and warm year, and the grapes were picked quickly (they harvest all of these grapes in one and a half days). All of the wines are kept some time in concrete before bottling. This is a powerful and round wine, with stuffing to develop nicely in bottle, a little in the style of the 2012. However, don't think the wine is soft or flabby, as Viura keeps very good acidity and makes wines that are lively and with freshness in the finish. This is, of course, bone dry and nicely textured. These are generously oaked whites that should develop over the years.
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Decanter
The wine has been aged for fifteen months in new French oak after fermentation in stainless steel. Green tinges and white gold, then a seductive nose which marries tropic fruit, beeswax, verbena and chamomile. The palate adds chalky, white pepper complexity and hints of pineapple and quince. The tropical and the citric dance an energetic pas de deux; fresh and composed, yet, for all that, one does not entirely lose the distinctive waxy personality of its previous incarnation, when American oak held court.
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Wine Enthusiast
This may already be five-plus years old, but the lucent light color and bright mix of briny stone fruit, resiny oak, bees wax and spice aromas seem young. This barrel-aged Viura is resiny feeling on the surface but surfs on a stream of zesty acidity. Savory oak, lees, dried papaya and citrus flavors finish long and layered; drink Rioja’s answer to white Burgundy through 2035. Editors’ Choice.
Other Vintages
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Commonly found as a single varietal white or blended with Malavasia and Grenache Blanc, Viura is a vital, leading white grape of Rioja. It also thrives in the lower elevations of the Penedes, where it takes the name Macabeo and adds aromatic and fruity notes to the traditional Cava blend with Parellada and Xarel-lo. Somm Secret—Called Macabeu in France, this versatile grape is prevalent in Roussillon where it makes still, sparkling, dry and sweet wines.
Highly regarded for distinctive and age-worthy red wines, Rioja is Spain’s most celebrated wine region. Made up of three different sub-regions of varying elevation: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental. Wines are typically a blend of fruit from all three, although specific sub-region (zonas), village (municipios) and vineyard (viñedo singular) wines can now be labeled. Rioja Alta, at the highest elevation, is considered to be the source of the brightest, most elegant fruit, while grapes from the warmer and drier Rioja Oriental produce wines with deep color and higher alcohol, which can add great body and richness to a blend.
Fresh and fruity Rioja wines labeled, Joven, (meaning young) see minimal aging before release, but more serious Rioja wines undergo multiple years in oak. Crianza and Reserva styles are aged for one year in oak, and Gran Reserva at least two, but in practice this maturation period is often quite a bit longer—up to about fifteen years.
Tempranillo provides the backbone of Rioja red wines, adding complex notes of red and black fruit, leather, toast and tobacco, while Garnacha supplies body. In smaller percentages, Graciano and Mazuelo (Carignan) often serve as “seasoning” with additional flavors and aromas. These same varieties are responsible for flavorful dry rosés.
White wines, typically balancing freshness with complexity, are made mostly from crisp, fresh Viura. Some whites are blends of Viura with aromatic Malvasia, and then barrel fermented and aged to make a more ample, richer style of white.