COMPOSITION: Garnacha, Viura, and then small amounts of Tempranillo, Malvasia or Mazuelo

TASTING NOTES: Luscious full-flavored rosé from Spain’s Rioja region.

This salmon coloured pink has a lively acidity making it fresh and crisp, yet it has a good deal of body making it a mouth-filling wine. It’s dry and shows excellent fruit notes of ripe red apples, tropical fruits and fresh citrus. Perfect with traditional Spanish tapas.

ABOUT THE PRODUCER:
Bodegas Muga has made rioja rosado since Isaac Muga founded the winery in 1932. "Originally, Bodegas Muga was so small there was not enough room to age the wines," says winemaker Jorge Muga. "My grandfather's main business was rosés and young reds." Today, Muga has more space and makes gran reserva reds, but he refuses to treat his rosado as a second-class wine.   (more info)

COMPOSITION: Garnacha, Viura, and then small amounts of Tempranillo, Malvasia or Mazuelo

TASTING NOTES: Luscious full-flavored rosé from Spain’s Rioja region.

This salmon coloured pink has a lively acidity making it fresh and crisp, yet it has a good deal of body making it a mouth-filling wine. It’s dry and shows excellent fruit notes of ripe red apples, tropical fruits and fresh citrus. Perfect with traditional Spanish tapas.

ABOUT THE PRODUCER:
Bodegas Muga has made rioja rosado since Isaac Muga founded the winery in 1932. "Originally, Bodegas Muga was so small there was not enough room to age the wines," says winemaker Jorge Muga. "My grandfather's main business was rosés and young reds." Today, Muga has more space and makes gran reserva reds, but he refuses to treat his rosado as a second-class wine.

"Traditionally, rosé [in Rioja] was made with lower quality grapes—that's why it had a very bad reputation in Spain," he explains. "The reason for our success in rosé is that we never thought of this wine as 'Plan B,' but as a wine with its own personality."

Muga's grapes come from terraced vineyards on the foothills of the Obarenes mountains, in Rioja Alta. He uses a mix of grape varieties, both red and white, for his rosado. It's usually two-thirds Garnacha, with some Viura, and then small amounts of varying grapes such as Tempranillo or Malvasia or Mazuelo, depending on the vintage. The grapes are picked by hand and pressed after a short soak; Muga believes the Garnacha must be handled very gently. The juice ferments in small oak tanks.

In the past decade, the winery has doubled the amount of rosado it produces—the category now accounts for about 10 percent of Bodegas Muga's wine, with about a quarter of the rosado production going to North America.

While Muga is justifiably proud of his rosado, it is his least profitable wine, so there is little chance he will increase production further unless demand grows dramatically.

  (less info)