Bodegas Muga, Rioja Crianza 2022.
We brought this bottle back from Spain where we spent half a day, right across the border from France in the Pyrenees mountains. It was a fun detour on our way back to Toulouse from a short stay in the French Pyrenees in my uncle's barn at 1500 m of altitude.
The nose is true to type, showing nice blackberry and blue berry notes, some cherry, some cocoa, some oak. The palate is medium to full bodied, with a great acid drive, some nice black fruits notes all along, a silky, sweet mouthfeel, some width, a good tannic wall in the midpalate, with pointy, lively tannins, powering a long oaky, cocoa finish with fruits but also producing a drying layer that turns into a slight oaky, bitter note in the very end. It’s very well made, but it’s young and requires food to go along. 88 out of 100.
Bodegas Muga, Rioja Crianza 2022.
We brought this bottle back from Spain where we spent half a day, right across the border from France in the Pyrenees mountains. It was a fun detour on our way back to Toulouse from a short stay in the French Pyrenees in my uncle's barn at 1500 m of altitude.
The nose is true to type, showing nice blackberry and blue berry notes, some cherry, some cocoa, some oak. The palate is medium to full bodied, with a great acid drive, some nice black fruits notes all along, a silky, sweet mouthfeel, some width, a good tannic wall in the midpalate, with pointy, lively tannins, powering a long oaky, cocoa finish with fruits but also producing a drying layer that turns into a slight oaky, bitter note in the very end. It’s very well made, but it’s young and requires food to go along. 88 out of 100.
Aug 22nd, 2026
La Rioja, Spain
