Castillo Ygay 1962 Blanco Reserva Especial

Wine: Castillo Ygay 1962 Blanco Reserva Especial
Winery: Marqués de Murrieta (Logroño, La Rioja)
Appellation / Zone: D.O.Ca. Rioja
Varietals: 93% Viura, 7% Malvasía.
ABV: 12.8% vol.

Winemaking

Grapes sourced from the Pago La Plana, the highest plot of the Finca Ygay estate. Following initial settling, fermentation took place in wooden foudres. The wine was then racked into large founding-era wooden vats (6,000–7,000 liters) to stabilize. It subsequently matured for 18 years in old 225-liter American oak barrels, none younger than 40 years old. Periodic manual rackings were performed to facilitate natural filtration. Bottled directly from the barrel in June 1982. It underwent a minimum of 5 years of bottle aging in the winery’s cellars before its commercial release in mid-1988. Recorked every 20 years.

 

Tasting Notes

 

Appearance: Beautiful intense golden color; remarkably clean and brilliant, without a single trace of sediment. It displays very vivid amber and coppery reflections. Strong sense of density—oily and viscous—forming immense, slow-moving tears. (Note: Original cork, impeccably cellared).

 

Nose: Elegance elevated to the nth power. Reliable descriptors are scarce, and what is found bewilders due to its absolute cleanliness and clarity. Powerful, complex, and profound, with barely any reductive notes to betray its long aging or its 25+ years in the bottle. It shows clear differences from the 1940 and 1946 Castillo Ygay vintages, which possessed a more "traditional" expression. Neither better nor worse: entirely different. It recalls an old Guillot triple sec, lemon sorbet, citrus zest, and sun-drenched vanilla. Youthful, fresh, and crystalline, with the oak deeply buried and nearly imperceptible. Words fail.

 

Palate: Less full-bodied than expected but highly concentrated, with a monstrous breadth. Fresh and syrupy, it is filled with ripe yet succulent fruit and an all-encompassing acidity that introduces nuances to a hint of residual sugar. It is perfect. A white wine that breaks all molds and serves as a compass for where modern Rioja should be heading.

 

Commentary

The 1962 Reserva Especial is a transcendental masterpiece. It defies the typical oxidative trajectory of aged Spanish whites, offering instead a vibrant, electric profile that remains suspended in time. It is a flawless symbiosis of 18 years of oxidative aging and a core of fruit that remains hauntingly youthful. One would give anything to find a full case in this pristine condition. A monumental, 100-point experience.

 

Personal Score: 100
Tasting Group Average: 100