Muriel Wines: Rioja for every occasion

Over three generations in Elciego, Rioja, Muriel Wines has grown from a small family winery to an international powerhouse. With exports accounting for 80% of its production, Muriel Wines is focused on taking Spanish wine around the world. Today, the group owns 11 brands, including Bodegas Muriel and five other wineries in Rioja DOCa as well as one each in Ribera del Duero DO and Rías Baixas DO – and each of these is another string to Muriel Wines’ bow.

Bodegas Muriel: the fruits of collaboration

The producer’s Muriel collection is built on its strong relationships with growers, from whom it purchases the grapes. These wines celebrate togetherness, and are crafted to be shared among friends, rather than saved for special occasions.

Produced from 100% Tempranillo from Rioja Alavesa, Muriel Crianza de Rioja Alavesa exemplifies this philosophy, combining fresh aromatics and concentration on the palate for a style that’s easy to enjoy. For its Muriel Reserva vino de Elciego – a vino de Pueblo and also a varietal Tempranillo – the producer relies on fruit from a combination of goblet- and trellis-trained vines aged 35 years on average, grown on calcareous soils. The wine ages in bottle for at least two years – double the minimum required – before release.

Wines from Bodegas Muriel’s Viña Muriel range demonstrate the distinct character of single vineyards.

Distinctive terroir identity

By contrast, the wines of its Viña Muriel brand are single-vineyard wines from the producer’s 400ha of estate vineyards. These are classically styled Rioja wines with a sense of both heritage and typicity: characterful expressions of the particular terroir of each parcel.

Viña Muriel Blanco combines the structure and intense aromatics of Tempranillo Blanco with the rich texture and elegance of Viura from 60-year-old vines. Viña Muriel Poncoles, meanwhile, from the eponymous vineyard planted in 1963 in Lanciego, is a fresh expression of Tempranillo with a small proportion of Viura. Finally, Viña Muriel Solariego is crafted from the El Gallo vineyard, in the highest-elevation part of Elciego, including plots dating from 1973, 1975 and 1986. The result is a complex, elegant wine with freshness and florality overlaying the rich fruit character.