Marques de Murrieta Reserva Rioja 2016 (750ML)

94 JS / 93-94 WA / 93 W&S / 91 WS

For a red, the 2016 Marqués de Murrieta Reserva Rioja is soft and easy to drink, and its notes of dried herbs are a perfect complement to the savory herbs you find in a lot of Thanksgiving dishes, such as sage, thyme, and rosemary. - Alpana Singh of Tallulah Restaurant Chicago for Food & Wine

This is very structured and powerful with a dense and rich palate of ripe fruit and hints of toasted oak. Full and layered. Structured. Released February 2020. Needs a few years of bottle age. Try after 2021. - James Suckling

I also tasted an unbottled sample of the 2016 Rioja Reserva, which should be bottled in a couple of months, before the summer. What I tasted was the final blend, and it represents the year—2016 was a cooler year, and the wine also goes in that direction. 2016 saw a large crop, and the grapes for this cuvée were harvested at the end of September, going toward more finesse and subtleness, combined with the natural power. There was a change in the winery in 2016 that was finalized in 2018 with the new winery. The wine is textured and fine, and it's more elegant than the 2015 I tasted next to it. The detail and texture on the palate is different, and the quality of the tannins is completely different. - Luis Gutierrez, Wine Advocate

This is a blend of tempranillo (87 percent), graciano, mazuelo and garnacha grown at the Finca Ygay, Murrieta's estate in the hills above Logrono. Aged in American oak for 18 months, it developed a hint of mintiness over its silken black-currant and tobacco flavors (think menthol cigarrette smoked with aristocratic nonchalance in Monaco). Bright and somber, tense and refined, this wine's limestone edges carry the essence of Rioja in a healthy wine that seems to get its style directly from the ground. - Josh Greene, Wine & Spirits

Black olive and forest floor notes frame tangy black cherry and currant flavors in this polished red. Well-integrated tannins and orange peel acidity support the supple texture. Balanced, in a savory style. Tempranillo, Graciano, Mazuelo and Garnacha. Drink now through 2026. - Tom Matthews, Wine Spectator