Rioja was looking forward to the publication of the second edition of Tim Atkin’s Winery Classification. The prestigious master of Wine was the first – and only – one who dared in 2016 to classify the wineries of Rioja, following the international model, “based on the quality of each winery and its wines.” And he just published his 2017 classification, which also includes its ‘category awards’.
Marqués de Murrieta, the first winery in Rioja, not only repeats as First Growth for the second year, but also stands as the most recognized winery in Atkin’s ‘Podium’: its winemaker, María Vargas, won the award for Best Winemaker of the Year in Rioja, and its emblematic Castillo Ygay White Gran Reserva Especial 1986 stands out as the Best White Wine of the Year, with 98 points, the highest score of the publication. A historical success that places Marqués de Murrieta as the standard of the best Rioja quality.
In addition to this, Atkin publishes his selection of the best wines by categories, where he highlights Dalmau 2012 among the ‘Reservas’, and Castillo Ygay Red 2007 and Marqués de Murrieta Gran Reserva 2010 among the ‘Gran Reservas’, all of them with 97 points.
The rest of Marqués de Murrieta wines also get great scores: Capellanía 2011 gets 94 points, Marqués de Murrieta Reserva 2012 reaches 93 points and Marqués de Murrieta Primer Rosé 2015, 90 points.
