2016 Muga Prado Enea Gran Reserva
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Tasting notes
Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano. The grapes for Prado Enea are always the last to be harvested. The highest-elevation parcels are selected in the Muga area, from the north-west of Rioja Alta (Sáenzarra, Cellorigo and Fonzaleche). A minimum ageing of 36 months in French and American oak barrels. Fined with fresh egg whites. Tasted blind. Smoky notes, concentrated stewed cherry, a fine menthol touch and cocoa powder. Very generous in fruit concentration, beautifully balanced with silky, high-quality tannins. Delicate notes of Pu-erh tea on the back palate lend an elegant, lingering finish. Prado Enea is as good as ever – an exceptional, classic wine and a true benchmark you can always rely on. (FC)
Critic scores
Jancis Robinson MW
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
Spiced red and black fruits, new saddle leather, smoky tobacco, and lead pencil are just some of the nuances in the 2016 Prado Enea Gran Reserva, a pure, medium to full-bodied, flawlessly balanced, beautifully textured Rioja from this team. With beautiful yet building tannins, a pure, focused style, and awesome length on the finish, it's a brilliant wine with a solid two decades of prime drinking ahead of it.
The expressive, complex and nuanced 2016 Prado Enea Gran Reserva is a textbook traditional Rioja in the making. 2016 was a very elegant year, with aging potential, volume and very good acidity and freshness. It's full-bodied but fine-boned, has 14.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.6 and 5.25 grams per liter acidity. It has terrific balance, with all the components in the right proportion to age superbly in bottle. They have also been working on the selection of wood used. This wine matured in French and American oak barrels for three years, and the oak is super integrated. 127,808 bottles produced. It was bottled in January 2020. It was an exceptional year with volume and quality.
Aged in barrel for 36 months, the 2016 Gran Reserva Prado Enea is a blend of Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano from Rioja Alta. This dark garnet wine reveals thyme, plum and sour cherry notes, accompanied by reductive nuances of matchstick and saffron. Additionally, it displays hints of biscuit, wax and dried flowers. On the palate, it is dry, supple and chalky, with a juicy, energetic flow that leads to a long-lasting, complex finish. While the leaner style brought on by the cold vintage may appear slightly unsubstantial for Prado Enea lovers, it remains absolutely delicious.
About the producer
Nestled in the historic town of Haro, at the very heart of Rioja Alta, Bodegas Muga stands as a beacon of tradition and excellence, seamlessly marrying time-honoured winemaking with the finest modern refinements.