We’ve chosen the 1946 vintage specifically, but this white Rioja as a whole is worthy of its place in our hall of fame. Here’s why…
Quick notes on Murrieta’s Castillo Ygay White Gran Reserva Especial 1946:
Number of bottles produced: N/A
Composition: 92% Viura, 8% Malvasia, according to Cellartracker
Alcohol: 12.8%
Origin: La Plana vineyard, Ygay Estate, Rioja Alta
Release price: N/A
Price today: Rarely available. Christie’s sold six bottles for £842 at a London auction in 2012, versus a high estimate of £300. In December 2017, Christie’s sold two bottles of the 1946 and one bottle of the 1932 as a three-bottle lot for $2,082 at an auction in New York. Its high estimate for the lot was $1,200.
What makes Murrieta’s Ygay White Especial 1946 a legend?
‘Unforgettable, perfect [and] glorious,’ were some of the words used by Decanter’s Pedro Ballesteros Torres MW to describe this wine during a recent landmark tasting.
‘1946 was the greatest vintage for white wines in Rioja, and this is the greatest example, bottled in 1964,’ he said.
There aren’t many regions currently known for fostering such longevity in a white wine. And, relatedly, there aren’t many producers with the means to be as patient.Marqués de Murrieta and R. López de Heredia, with its Viña Tondonia, are two of the greatest examples of those producing white Rioja built to last decades.
Murrieta matured this wine in old American oak barrels for nearly 20 years before bottling it. The estate has only just released the 1986 vintage of the same wine, after close to 30 years of cellar ageing – mostly in used oak and concrete.
Looking back
Marqués de Murrieta is no stranger to our pantheon of greats, having seen red wine Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial 1925 join our Wine Legend series in 2016.
The Marqués de Murrieta – real name Luciano Murrieta García-Lemoine – was a leading figure in the development of Rioja wines in the 19th Century. He moved into the Ygay estate near to Logroño in the 1870s following a military career and took at least some inspiration from winemaking methods in Bordeaux, where visited producers several times.
The Marqués died in 1911 with no direct heir and so the estate passed to his second nephew, José Manuel Olivares Bruguera, and remained in the family until 1983 when it was bought by Vicente Cebrián-Sagarriga.
The Rioja 1946 vintage
The Rioja council has rated 1946 as ‘average’ overall, which is the second-worst level of the present DOCa body’s five-point scale. That makes 1946 the joint-worst Rioja vintage of the 1940s, along with 1940 itself.
It was clearly a different story in 1946 for Rioja’s white wine producers, which perhaps underlines why vintage charts should not be treated as gospel, despite acting as a useful guide to many.
The vineyard
This wine comes from La Plana vineyard within the Ygay estate, which spans 300 hectares. La Plana sits at around 485 metres above sea level, one of the highest points of the whole property, which lies at the southern end of the Rioja Alta area.
Viura, also known as Macabeo, dominates in the wine and the grape variety still constitutes the majority of white grape plantings in Rioja today.
The wine
Castillo Ygay White Gran Reserva Especial is only made in certain years. Vintages so far include 1919, 1932, 1940, 1946, 1950, 1962, 1970 and, most recently, 1986.
The 1946 was fermented in large oak vats and then aged in 225-litre, used American oak barrels. It was not bottled until 1964, according to Pedro Ballesteros Torres MW.
Production figures were not available. But, as a guide, Murrieta said that it made 8,125 bottles of the 1986 vintage, which was bottled on 29 January 2014.
Reaction
While some have poured their most lavish praise on the 1986 wine, Ballesteros Torres saved his kindest words for the 1946 vintage.
Awarding it the full 100 points after tasting it in 2016, he said it was ‘bright amber in colour, with a closed attack that takes time to open, revealing discreet notes of tobacco, cedar, clove, sweet spice and dry herbs’.
He added, ‘It’s a magnificent wine; a style all its own and a universal benchmark.’
Sources: Decanter, Marqués de Murrieta, Cellartracker, Rioja DOCa Council, Christie’s, MMD Ltd, Wine-Searcher
Compare Pedro Ballesteros Torres’ full tasting notes for the Castillo Ygay White Gran Reserva Especial 1986, 1970 and 1946:
