Castillo Ygay 1940 Blanco Reserva Especial

Wine: Castillo Ygay 1940 Blanco Reserva Especial

Winery: Marqués de Murrieta (Logroño, La Rioja)
Appellation: D.O.Ca. Rioja
Varietals: 92% Viura, 8% Malvasía
ABV: [Not specified]

Winemaking
Grapes sourced from the Pago la Plana, located at the highest elevation of the Ygay Estate. The wine underwent fermentation in large wooden tuns for 30 days before being transferred for aging. It matured for 20 years in seasoned 225-liter American oak barrels. Bottled directly from the cask in the mid-1960s. It was aged for a minimum of 10 to 11 years in the winery’s subterranean cellars (calados) prior to its commercial release in the early 1970s. The cork is replaced every 20 years.

 

Tasting Notes

 

Appearance: A spectacular dark amber hue, luminous, with a slight sediment at the bottom of the bottle. It displays a pronounced sense of viscosity with golden and orange highlights; thick, permanent legs.

 

Nose: Powerful and pristinely clean, showing a complexity and depth rarely encountered. It maintains an ultra-elegant reductive expression and a profound varietal character—Viura in its purest form—embodying the extraordinary typicity of traditional Riojan whites. Upon aeration, the wine "explodes," projecting information with vertiginous momentum. A multifaceted, layered wine that demands a dedicated session to fully comprehend. Initially, reductive notes of honeycomb, beeswax, and incense emerge, followed by a more somber and mysterious core of Marmite/Vegemite. Pungent nuances of iodine and saline minerals—gunflint, flint, and gunpowder—evoke the character of a legendary Chablis. It evolves into fine, sweeter notes of rosemary honey, almond, dulce de leche, and vanilla. Enveloping and spectacular.

 

Palate: Overwhelming in its extraordinary acidity, viscosity, youthfulness, and breadth. A vibrant "spark" jolts the palate, providing the structural backbone that aligns every element. This is an elegant white of "tenebrist" style, full of chiaroscuro and seemingly distant elements held in perfect harmony. Its extreme reduction is seamlessly entwined with an abundance of ripe fruit. Honeyed and sweet notes expertly counter the power of the high acidity. Majestic; more classic than a John Wayne film. This wine places Rioja at the pinnacle of the viticultural universe. Perfection itself.

 

Personal Score: 100
Tasting Group Score: 100

 Etiqueta del Castillo Ygay 1940 Blanco Reserva Especial