Muga Conde de Haro Cava Brut 2017

90% Viura, 10% Malvasia. Bodegas Muga is Rioja Alta’s premier producer and the Muga family are unanimously considered to be one of Spain’s most important winemaking families. The winery has practically legendary status due to its philosophy revolving around adherence to tradition, dynamism, and winemaking of the highest quality. Bodegas Muga was officially founded in 1932 by the Muga family, who at that point had spent several decades working as viticulturists in Rioja Alta. At the time, the Mugas were in the negociant business of buying, blending, and aging wine. Soon after the foundation of the cellars, they started production of their own estate-grown wines. The winery is still owned by the Mugas and every single aspect of its operation is controlled and overseen by the family. The winemaking process is carried out with 100% indigenous yeasts. The winery’s barrel room is enormous and Muga employs a crew of six men just for barrel management and rackings. The racking process is completed by gravity in order to maintain the integrity of the wine. The wines are effectively filtered naturally without the use of harmful pumps or filters that would otherwise strip the wine of its character. After selection, only the lightest pressed wine is used to produce this wine. The must undergoes its first fermentation in 1,000 L. wooden vats, where the wine is left until April. The second fermentation is induced in bottle and then ages for 14 months. A unique wine that demonstrates the potential for quality in Spanish sparkling wine. Produced with indigenous varieties of Rioja, Conde de Haro has always been a mythical sparkling wine. Riddled and disgorged by hand, it is produced with the most traditional methods possible, resulting in a complex and timeless wine. Few producers in the world fashion wines that have such a sense of tradition and place as Muga’s. The wines of Muga have an absolutely distinct, unique, and inimitable profile.