So much dried flower, mushroom, iron, rust, sweet berry, and grilled orange. Full-bodied with very elegant and refined tannins that melt in the mouth and give a real sense of place and integrity. Balanced and harmonious. The finesse and finish is endless. Production was 30% less than in 2011. Already so drinkable. A wonderful future. This is the new 1934 or 1964, two legends. Drink or hold.

The 2012 Rioja “Castillo Ygay” Gran Reserva Especial from Marqués de Murrieta is composed this year from a cépages of eighty-one percent tempranillo and nineteen percent mazuelo, with the vines of both varieties in excess of eighty years of age. Interestingly, the two grape varieties are aged separately for thirty-four months in cask, with the tempranillo aged in American oak barrels and the mazuelo in French oak casks. After the period of cask aging, the two components are blended and aged an additional twenty months in concrete tanks prior to botting, and then an additional three years in bottle in the cellar prior to release! The 2012 Castillo Ygay Gran Reserve Especial comes in at an even fourteen percent octane in this vintage and delivers a stunning aromatic constellation of black raspberries, cassis, Cuban cigar wrapper, a complex base of soil, brown spices, coconutty American oak and a topnote of woodsmoke. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and seamlessly balanced, with a velvety attack, stunning depth of fruit at the core, lovely soil signature and grip, ripe, buried tannins and precise focus on the long, refined and hauntingly beautiful finish. At twelve years of age this brilliant wine is certainly approachable, but it still possesses a serious chassis of tannin and will be an even more stunning wine ten or twenty years down the road. Great juice.

The 2012 bottling of the Ygay Gran Reserva really ups the savoury character, with the Tempranillo buoyed by 19% Mazuelo, delivering bright fruits and fresh acidity. This is a vintage of true elegance. This wine was bottled in 2019, a blend of 81% Tempranillo aged in American oak and 19% Mazuelo (also known as Carignan) aged in French oak, each for 34 months. The Mazuelo brightens the wine and imbues it with such elegance. The Gran Reserva is sourced entirely from La Plana, located at nearly 500m, and its 80-year-old vines are all dedicated to this iconic bottling. Gorgeous fresh and savoury aromas of dried violet and rose petals, smoky clove and eucalyptus. The palate offers freshness around a core of red fruits. Fresh wild mint, ripe strawberries, notes of balsamic and turned earth are lifted up by a streak of graphite that cuts across the finish. (Drink between 2024-2050)

The 2012 Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial was produced with a blend of 81% Tempranillo and 19% Mazuelo (Cariñena) from the plot La Plana in the Ygay estate, which was planted in 1950 at 485 meters above sea level, the highest in the Ygay property. The Tempranillo was picked between September 17th and 19th, and the Mazuelo was harvested on September 25th. The bunches were destemmed and lightly crushed and put to ferment in stainless steel for 10 days with constant pump-overs and délestages. The Tempranillo matured for 34 months in American oak barrels, and the Mazuelo also matured for 34 months but in French barriques. It was then blended and put in concrete for a further 20 months. It has 14% alcohol, a pH of 3.65 and 5.8 grams of acidity (measured in tartaric acid per liter). It seems to follow the style of the 2011, perhaps somewhere between the 2010 and 2011—very classical, with notes of earth, cedar, spice and meat. The palate is polished, sleek and elegant with a touch of earthy rusticity. 103,216 bottles, 3,121 magnums and some larger formats produced. It was bottled in May 2019. No 2013, 2014 or 2015 will be produced, so from here, they will jump to 2016 to be released in 2026 or 2027. I look forward to it, and I'm intrigued about what I'm going to find when I taste it. - Luis Gutiérrez

The 2012 Gran Reserva Especial Castillo Ygay is 81% Tempranillo and 19% Mazuelo sourced from La Plana vineyard, planted on the Ygay Estate, Rioja Alta. Aged for 34 months in French and American oak barrels, this wine offers displays a garnet color with a brick sheen. It reveals a complex aroma of bee wax, dried flowers, cassis, sour cherry, cedar and vanilla, with a candied layer. Dry, silky and fairly juicy, the fine-grained tannins and heightened acidity deliver a cleansing, long-lasting finish. This exceptional wine exudes energy and demonstrates proven aging potential, making it one to savor and age gracefully. -- Joaquín Hidalgo

This sophisticated red offers rich flavors of plum compote and dried cherry and raspberry fruit, with detailed notes of espresso, anise, mountain herbs and fresh earth. Shows lovely interplay between generosity and a sense of finesse, integrating fine, chalky tannins and orange peel acidity. Long and fragrant on the finish. Tempranillo and Mazuelo. Drink now through 2037. — A.N.