This year my wife and I are celebrating our 10th anniversary. Throughout the year, we've been popping some bottles from 2001, a solid vintage for CDPs, Cali Cabs, Sauternes, German Rieslings, and a good portion of Italy. 2001 was also a benchmark vintage for Spain, with Ribera del Duero, Priorat and Rioja at the forefront.  One might even say that the '01 vintage did for Spain what '97 did for Italy.

In the mid-19th century, Marqués de Murrieta was one of first and most influential houses in shaping the future of Rioja wine. Using techniques learned in Bordeaux, in particular the use of oak for aging, these pioneers fashioned wines made primarily from Tempranillo that were built for the long haul.

Today, Marqués de Murrieta produces wines in a modern style under the Dalmau label, as well as traditional with their Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial. The most demanding of Rioja classifications, above Crianza and Reserva, Gran Reserva requires the wine to be selected from an exceptional vintage, spend at least 2 years in oak cask and 3 years in bottle. 1978 represents the last of the 'old school' legendary vintages of Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial, the wine spending 18 years in 225 Liter oak barrels. The more recent vintages, of which there have only been six declared, have seen the barrel aging reduced to 29-48 months, which is still more than the 24 required.

The 2001 Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial, which Murrieta has called "the first vintage of the new era", seems to capture the essence of this exceptional vintage combined with the refined hand of their traditional methods. Aromas of dark fruits, spice box, suede, licorice and tea waft from the glass. Juicy red fruits and plum fill the palate, with a streak of acidity that is most likely credited to the 7% Mazuelo (Cariñena/Carignan) added to the Tempranillo. There is great length on the wine that finishes with very fine tannins. Though this vintage is fairly new to the market, the wine will still evolve for a few years and then enjoy a couple decades of maturity ahead of it. It's easy to see why Jay Miller recently upgraded this wine from 92 to 94 points in Robert Parker's Wine Advocate and at $44.99, I'd grab up whatever we have left in stock. Once they are gone, we'll have to wait for the 2004 allocation to arrive and have fun comparing the two classic vintages.