2012 Marques de Murrieta Rioja Gran Reserva Limited Edition 750 ml

An Exclusive Glimpse Into History

Open a bottle of Marques de Murrieta, and you open a portal to Rioja’s storied history: The 2012 Marques de Murrieta Rioja Gran Reserva is a smoky and savory 94-point gem from one of the most iconic estates in Spain, made only in select vintages, and only available on Wine Access.

The Marques de Murrieta bodega has stood in Rioja since 1852, and the estate has not only shown incredible longevity, but managed to maintain incredible quality over a century and a half. We are first to market with the 2012 Gran Reserva Limited Edition, which is sourced from the vineyards of the Ygay estate, which surrounds the winery high in Rioja Alta. Aged for 29 months in American oak barriques, this beauty from an outstanding Rioja vintage shows a blackberry, currant, cedar, and cigar spice, and what James Suckling calls a “deep, concentrated palate,” in his 94-point assessment. It’s a seductive red wine that’s hitting its stride now, but fully capable of developing over a decade in the cellar. Just $46.99 per bottle on a case or more. Shipping included on 3.

Marques de Murrieta has been expressing the elevated terroir of the Rioja Alta since 1852, when its namesake founder imported Bordeaux’s winemaking techniques to the tiny village of Logrono. This is just a couple miles west of where the estate’s iconic Ygay Castle currently stands, surrounded by vines that supply the Gran Reserva Limited Edition. This wine is made only in outstanding vintages—like 2012, which was one of the top Rioja vintages in the last decade, according to Wine Advocate.

Calling the shots at Marques de Murrieta is Maria Vargas, the woman who British Master of Wine Tim Atkin crowned as Rioja’s 2017 Winemaker of the Year. For the Gran Reserva, Vargas presides over hand-harvested Tempranillo, Mazuelo, Graciano, and Garnacha that is destemmed and fermented on the skins for nine days. The wine is then aged for 29 months in American oak, which is now, six years after harvest, gorgeously integrated into the wine. This is a ripe, smoky, savory red wine that expresses the soul of Rioja, one of the region’s foundational bodegas, and the skill of a woman hot off a Winemaker of the Year award. Buy as much as you can, drink one now, and let the rest reward a decade or so of patience.