Tim Atkin places Marqués de Murrieta in the First Category of his classification of wineries
Marqués de Murrieta is once again considered an icon of quality in Rioja. Tim Atkin places it again in the first category of his renowned classification of wineries of the Rioja Qualified Designation of Origin (DOCa). This classification is divided into five categories, equivalent to the Bordeaux grand cru and ranks the wineries according to the quality of the winery and its wines, as explained by the critic himself.
The classification model used is the one used in France since the mid-nineteenth century and has also been frequently used to classify international wineries due to its rigor and qualitative value, but no one had dared to carry out such a classification in Spain until Atkin was the first to do so, valuing the more than 550 wineries that make up the Rioja Qualified Designation of Origin. After visiting all the wineries in the area and tasting their most emblematic wines, the critic claims to be in love with Rioja, but no less rigorous in his classifications.
Among the wineries that make up the first category we find Marqués de Murrieta, which was not only the first winery in Rioja, founded in 1852, but almost 170 years later and having been considered one of the best wineries in the world, continues to continuously bet on a very promising future, inaugurating its new production area next to the winery with more than 25000 square meters full of the highest technology in winemaking.
In addition to compiling this classification of Rioja wineries, Atkin has also rated the wines of each of them. The famous British critic awarded 96 points to three of the wines of Marqués de Murrieta, which correspond to the new vintages of Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial 2010, Dalmau Reserva 2016 and Capellanía Reserva 2015 of Marqués de Murrieta.
