Beverage Dynamics

Beverage Dynamics Sept-Oct 2011

Beverage Dynamics is the largest national business magazine devoted exclusively to the needs of off-premise beverage alcohol retailers, from single liquor stores to big box chains, through coverage of the latest trends in wine, beer and spirits.

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Rioja: Combining the Old and the New By John Foy he distance from Madrid to Logrono, the prin- cipal town in La Rioja is approximately five hours by car and centuries in wine time. Monastery documents date the existence of wine in La Rioja in 873; however, we know La Rijoa's unwritten wine history extends to the Phoenicians who brought their winemaking skills to the Iberian Peninsula. Over the course of centuries, La Rioja became the most prestigious wine region in Spain. It was the wine source for French consumers when Bordeaux's vineyards were devastated by Phylloxera in the 19th century. Eclipsed by the New World wine styles of the late 20th century from neighboring Ribera del Duero and Priorat, it is responding in the 21st century with modern wine styles while retaining its classic Rioja wines. Rioja's modern foundation was laid by a most traditional winery and man, Marquis de Murrieta. In 1822, Francisco Ramon de Murrieta was born in Peru. Two years later, his family moved to England when the Peruvians overthrew the Spanish colonialist. In 1844, after service in the Spanish T Tempranillo, Rioja's main red grape. Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial 2004. and is currently under the direction of his 40-year old son, Vicente Dalmau Cebrian Sagarriga, and daughter, Christina. There are more than 700 acres of vine- yards at Marques de Murrieta planted pri- marily with tempranillo, Rioja's main red grape, as well as the other traditional red wine grapes mazuelo, garnacha and graciano. The Cebrian Sagarriga family added a plot of cabernet sauvignon. army, Murrieta moved to Logrono and began a life dedicated to making out- standing wine. Observing the inferior quality of Rioja wines compared to the French wines he experienced in London, Murrieta went to Bordeaux to learn winemaking in 1848. He returned four years later, and began producing wines that earned him international awards, commercial success and the title Marques de Murrieta from Queen Isabel II. In 1878, he purchased the Ygay estate. Murrieta died childless in 1911. His nephew, Julian de Olivares, inherited the winery and maintained its status until his death in 1977. The estate was pur- chased in 1983 by Count Vicente Cebrian Sagarriga Murrieta is renowned for its long wine aging process and the current vintage, 2004 Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial, spent four years in new and used American oak barrels and four years in bottle before it was released to the market. This is three years longer than required by Rioja's regulations for wines designated Gran Reserva. Its 1978 Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial, which is available through its importer, Maisons Marques & Domaines, spent 18 years in barrel and 10 years in bottle before it was offered to the market. The 1982 vintage is still barrel aging in the cellars of Marquis de Murrieta. Its market debut is unknown. With the 1994 vintage, the Cebrian Sagarriga family introduced a New World-styled wine, Dalmau, to Marquis de Murietta's classic wines. It is produced from tempranillo, cabernet sauvignon and graciano grapes of the single-vineyard Canajas at the Ygay Estate. 12 • Beverage Dynamics • www.beveragedynamics.com • September/October 2011

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