A Note From Our Founder

Introduction to Spanish Wines

Bodegas Muga

Founded in 1932 by husband-and-wife team - Isaac Muga and Aurora Caño, the Muga Family is synonymous with tradition and the skill of an artisan. Three generations have now contributed to the history of this Rioja cellar. The vineyards are nestled in the foothills of the Montes Obarenes in the heart of Rioja Alta.

Bodegas Muga is the only winery left in Spain that uses only oak throughout the entire process of elaboration of their wines. Muga has its own cooperage and directly importing American and French oak makes this possible. The winery manufactures about 2,000 barrels each year. The wine is racked every four months by gravity and the use of candles to detect sediment. Fining is done by egg whites. The process takes over two months as the raft of egg whites sink to the bottom of the vat. This is an extremely expensive technique, but it succeeds in giving Muga reds a distinctive velvety texture.

Priorat

Alvaro Palacios is undoubtedly one of the architects and primary reasons for Priorat's elevation to premiere fine wine region over the past 20 years. Palacios' wines have garnered a following in Spain and abroad for their generous fruit, polished tannin structure, and minerality. Camins is the winery's softer, entry level Priorat.

Tiny and entirely composed of craggy, jagged and deeply terraced vineyards, Priorat is a Catalan wine-producing region that was virtually abandoned until the early 1990s. This Spanish wine's renaissance came with the arrival of one man, René Barbier, who recognized the region’s forgotten potential. He banded with five friends to create five “Clos” in the village of Gratallops. Their aim was to revive some of Priorat’s ancient Carignan vines, as well as plant new—mainly French—varieties. These winemakers were technically skilled, well-trained and locally inspired; not surprisingly their results were a far cry from the few rustic and overly fermented wines already produced.

This movement escalated Priorat’s popularity for a few reasons. Its new wines were modern and made with well-recognized varieties, namely old Carignan and Grenache blended with Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. When the demand arrived, scarcity commanded higher prices and as the region discovered its new acclaim. Within ten years, the area under vine practically doubled.

Priorat’s steep slopes of licorella (brown and black slate) and quartzite soils, protection from the cold winds of the Siera de Monstant and a lack of water, leading to incredibly low vine yields, all work together to make the region’s wines unique. The mineral essence and unprecedented concentration of Priorat wine is unmistakable.ds, and it controls an additional 370 acres from other growers.