Muga Prado Enea Gran Reserva 2015
#53 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2022
This Gran Reserva Prado Enea displays an attractive, deep, dense cherry-red color. A stylish nose of black fruits mingling with spices, gingerbread and licorice. The soft, supple entry on the palate leads to a sensation of gentle power and air-light volume underpinned by cashmere silky tannins, harmoniously balanced by fresh acidity. Creamy, vanilla notes come through in the finish with ripe fruit. This wine is tempting to drink now, but it will age well for years.
Critical Acclaim
97 James Suckling
Reserved and polished, this is a Prado Enea with great class and focus. It’s so aromatic, with plum, peach, cherry and cedar characters. Salted olives, too. Medium to full-bodied with very fine tannins and a long, fresh finish. Elegance with power here. Give it three or four years to open, but already impressive.
97 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The most classical of their wines, the 2015 Prado Enea Gran Reserva is a blend of Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano, mostly from Rioja Alta (Sajazarra, Cellorigo and Fonzaleche), but the Garnacha is from different plots in the zone of Tudelilla at high altitude. These grapes are always picked last, but the wine has a similar alcohol level as the rest, around 14.5% in a warm year like 2019. The modus operandi is similar to other of the top cuvées—harvested into 200-kilogram boxes, destemming, optical sorting and fermentation in small oak casks with indigenous yeasts. The élevage, in this case, is extended to 36 months, and the barrels are only 10% new. This is, year in, year out, my favorite wine from Muga, and in this powerful and ripe year, these late-harvesting vines ripened thoroughly and delivered a full array of aromas and flavors so that the wine has plenty of depth and complexity. It has a very classical profile, with incipient tertiary notes, perfumed, floral and rich, textured and beautifully balanced. They compare 2015 with 2009 and 2005 in terms of style but with freshness in the style of 2001 and 2010. It's enjoyable but should also develop for a long time in the bottle. One of the finest Prado Enea vintages.
96 Jeb Dunnuck
The 2015 Prado Enea Gran Reserva comes from a hotter, riper vintage, but it shares similar gamey, exotic aromatics of red and black fruits, sappy herbs, flowers, leather, iron, and background cedary oak. Rich, medium to full-bodied, incredibly pure, and balanced, it has ripe, still present tannins, impeccable balance, and a great finish. This is a classic expression of this cuvée that can be enjoyed any time over the coming two decades or more.
94 Wine Spectator
Well-tailored in an understated way, this harmonious red is plushly creamy on the palate, like fine cashmere, showing seamless integration of the sculpted tannins with finely detailed flavors of black cherry and black plum reduction, sandalwood, cedar, green olive, espresso crema and minerally smoke and iron. Long and lightly juicy on the refined finish. Tempranillo, Graciano, Mazuelo and Garnacha.
