Castillo Ygay 1964 Gran Reserva Especial

Wine: Castillo Ygay 1964 Gran Reserva Especial

Winery: Marqués de Murrieta (Logroño, La Rioja)
Appellation / Region: D.O.Ca. Rioja
Varietals: 60% Tempranillo, 30% Garnacha, 10% Mazuelo
ABV: 13%
Winemaking 

Grapes sourced from the "Pago la Plana" plot, the highest area of the Ygay Estate. No harvest records available. The wine fermented in American oak vats for 30 days. It then spent 6 months in large wooden tanks (6,000–7,000 liters) to complete fermentation and stabilize before wood aging. The wine matured for 4 years in 225-liter American oak barrels. Following this, it was racked into seasoned wooden vats for a further 23 years of maturation—a total of 276 months in wood. Hand-bottled directly from the casks in mid-1993. It was aged in the bottle for a minimum of 5 years before its commercial release in 1998. The cork is replaced every 20 years to ensure optimal development in the bottle.

 

Tasting Notes
 

Appearance: Dark, medium-high depth (capa) garnet-ruby; pristine and bright. It displays reddish and amber highlights—luminous and shimmering. A marvelous color that suggests a wine 25 years younger. It possesses an extraction rarely found in wines of this age. The rim is minimal—like a sliver of sand in the middle of the ocean—showing copper and orange nuances with a sharp contrast against the meniscus. Immense promise.

 

Nose: It presents itself with unrestrained power; unadorned, forceful, abundant in every sense, and complete in every imaginable aspect. It demands absolute attention to keep pace with its evolution. Concentrated red fruit stands out with a medicinal, herbal edge, merging into notes of game, faisandage, blood, and wet fur. This is layered over a fine texture of cured hides (Russian leather) and aromatic tobacco of the highest elegance. In the background, noble woods, cedar, leaf litter, graphite, caramelized sugar, and Marmite-like savory notes seamlessly meld together.

 

Palate: It dazzles with its initial freshness—a sharp, cutting blade of acidity. Enveloping, incredibly lively, and bursting with an unexpected energy that initially seems to overshadow everything else. This alone would make the wine worth tasting, yet behind this initial pyrotechnic display lies a complex wine of absolute depth. Well-structured and solid, with rocky, firm tannins that dress an ensemble that is more spirited (nervioso) than purely elegant or classic. There is a core of spices and reduced red fruit, intensely savory, nuanced by a high-toned (acídulo) trail and a sweetness of exceptional quality. While perhaps not the finest or most elegant Castillo Ygay ever tasted, it is arguably the best example of the sheer vigor displayed by the 1964 vintage. It is suspended in time; it appears not to have aged, and further bottle aging will hardly weigh it down in the coming decades. This wine will outlive us all. A monumental achievement.

 

Personal Score: 97
Tasting Group Score: 97