Descripción

Tinto excelso elaborado con Tempranillo y un importante aporte de Graciano. Con un enorme potencial de guarda, se muestra ya potente, haciendo gala de una acidez equilibrada y buena frescura. Siempre excelentemente valorado por los críticos más prestigiosos, en esta añada para el estadounidense Jeb Dunnuck merece 100 puntos, la máxima calificación. 

Ficha técnica

La bodega
Bodegas Muga
Tipo
Tinto
Añada
2019
Grado
14.5% vol.
Producción
5.800 botellas
Variedad
70% Tempranillo, 30% Graciano
Origen
Rioja

Cata

Vista
Color rojizo, con tonos violetas, de capa alta.
Nariz
Muy intensa, con dominio de la madera bien integrada, tonos lácteos, de clavo y vainilla, junto a sensaciones de frutas rojas y pequeños frutos silvestres bien madurados (zarzamora, grosella, fresas silvestres) y notas florales (pétalos de violeta). También se encuentran toques especiados de la crianza (canela y pimienta negra).
Boca
Vino con una muy buena estructura y acidez, fresco y con un tanino presente y redondo y final muy largo. Posgusto persistente, amplio y elegante. Se le augura un buen potencial de guarda.
Temperatura de servicio
Se recomienda servir a 16 ºC.

Viñedo y elaboración

Descripción
Viñedos situados en Haro, La Rioja. Selección de los mejores viñedos.
Edad
Cepas de más de 60 años.
Suelo
Arcillo-calcáreo y aluvial.
Vinificación
La fermentación se produce siempre de forma natural y espontánea. La uva fermenta en depósitos de madera, de pequeña capacidad, sin control de temperatura y con levaduras indígenas. La maceración es variable pero puede prolongarse hasta dos o tres semanas.
Envejecimiento
Crianza durante 18 meses en barricas nuevas de roble francés.
Embotellado
Tras la crianza se realiza una ligera clarificación con clara de huevo fresco.

Opinión de los críticos

Jeb Dunnuck:

Pure magic, the 2019 Aro is 70% Tempranillo and 30% Graciano from a plant by plant selection of the Muga family's oldest vines of Tempranillo, blended with a substantial portion of Graciano. This dense purple behemoth has a primordial bouquet of pure cassis, graphite, crushed stone, lead pencil, new leather, and hints of spring flowers. Building incrementally on the palate, with full-bodied richness, a huge mid palate, and ripe, velvety tannins, this is one heavenly Rioja that deserves 7-8 years of bottle age and will age like a First Growth from Bordeaux. Hats off to the team at Muga for another incredible wine.

James Suckling:

Blueberries, cassis, black pepper, nutmeg and some mahogany here. Salted plums, slate, tobacco leaves and lead-pencil shavings, too. Wow. It’s full-bodied, intense and so well integrated and polished with seamless tannins. Powerful, yet elegant at the same time. 70% tempranillo and 30% graciano. 5,800 bottles only. Try this from 2027.

The Wine Advocate:

No 2017 or 2018 were produced of this luxury cuvée made with up to 30% Graciano to complement the Tempranillo from the villages of Labastida, Briñas and Villalba, so from the impressive 2016 I tasted in June 2019, we jumped to the 2019 Aro. The destemmed grapes went through optical sorting and fermented in small oak vats with indigenous yeasts followed by malolactic in new barrels, where the wine matured for 16 months. It's not a shy wine at 14.6% alcohol, and the Graciano provides extra acidity and vibrancy. It has great balance and a spark of acidity and is a very complete wine, with great aromatics and integrated oak (all new barrels, but better integrated than ever); it has the ripeness of Graciano, which ripens with low yields and only ripens thoroughly in given vintages, and they had to skip warm years like 2011 when some varieties like Graciano and Mazuelo didn't behave well. This is the finest Aro so far. 5,800 bottles were filled in July 2021.

Tim Atkin:

The 2019 is the first release of Aro since 2016, and it's well up to the standard of that celebrated wine. Tempranillo dominated with support from Graciano and ageing in new French oak, it’s one of the wines of the vintage, with subtle reduction, scented wood, tangy acidity, violet top notes, black cherry and bramble fruit and remarkable finesse. 2027-40