2012 Bodegas Marques de Murrieta Finca Ygay Gran Reserva Rioja 750 ml

Any time we can get our hands on back-vintage Rioja, it’s a good day. Locking in the last 600 bottles of a 96-point library release from the estate that put the region on the map is a whole different story. These are the cellar superstars we dream about. 

Master of Wine and acclaimed wine critic Tim Atkin called the 2012 Marqués de Murrieta Finca Ygay Gran Reserva “perfumed, refined and exquisitely oaked, with the structure for a long life.” James Suckling gave a glimpse of the journey that awaits in bottle, writing: “Let the dark nose with its licorice, soy sauce, smoke and earthy notes draw you into the deep, concentrated palate, where the serious tannins have just matured to the point where there is a graceful line right through the wine.”

This is Rioja at its finest and most complex. With today’s price, we advise you to stuff this Gran Reserva in your cellar while you can.

Marking the 160th vintage at Finca Ygay, the 2012 Gran Reserva boasts an unparalleled lineage in Rioja—one that includes Wine Spectator Wine of the Year for the 2010 vintage. At the root of its family tree is the first bottling in modern Rioja winemaking history, made by Luciano de Murrieta in 1852. 

Armed with techniques he learned in Bordeaux—chief among them oak-barrel aging—Murrieta entirely transformed the landscape of Spanish wine, pushing quality to world-class heights. For his advances, he was named a Marqués by the Spanish King: the Marqués de Murrieta. 

The 2012 Gran Reserva is a product of the Marques’ 170-year-old blueprint combined with state-of-the-art winemaking technology. Tempranillo, planted in the rugged and dry iron-rich soils of Rioja Alta, develops incredible concentration. The handpicked fruit is then brought to the 150-year-old château-style winery at Finca Ygay where it is meticulously vinified and then aged for no less than two years in American oak barrels. 

As Wine Advocate explained, the Gran Reserva is “a selection of the most age-worthy vineyards” from the estate, a fact clearly on display in the 2012. After nearly a decade in bottle, it has just hit its stride, delivering tantalizing, spice-laden red fruit layered with aged wisdom—forest floor, dried rose petal, and rare black truffle. While this is ready to astound today, it will continue to develop kaleidoscopic complexity over the next decade and more. 

By now, nearly every single bottle of the 96-point 2012 vintage has been snapped up—all but the last 600. We’re honored to deliver this benchmark Rioja, direct from the estate, with perfect provenance. With a substantial discount in play, this is the moment to go all-in for now and years to come. Once it’s gone, it’s gone for good.