Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Reserva 2020

94+ points Luis Gutiérrez (Wine Advocate): "[$32 list] The 2020 Rioja Reserva, their flagship wine, comes from the 300 hectares of estate vineyards. Here, Tempranillo is the backbone, making up 82% of the blend in the low-yielding vintage of 2019, complemented with 8% Graciano, 7% Mazuelo and 3% Garnacha. It has controlled ripeness at 14% alcohol, with a pH of 3.65 and 5.1 grams of acidity. I loved the aromatics here—floral and elegant, more in the style of the 2018 than the 2019. it's lighter, more elegant, fine-boned and has a silky texture and very fine tannins. Both 2019 and 2020 are very good, but 2020 is more my style... It was bottled after 21 months in American oak barrels. Drink: 2024-2034. (2/29/24)"

94 points Tim Atkin, MW: "(14%). This won't be ready to drink for some time, but it's well worth buying some now to tuck away for a few years. Sourced from the entire estate, it's a cuvée of Tempranillo with 8% Graciano, 7% Mazuelo and 3% Garnacha Tinta, that has appealing American oak sweetness and spices, a ripe, dense, textured palate of blackberry and mulberry fruit and plenty of balancing acidity. 2025-35. (2024)"

94 points John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "The 2020 Rioja “Reserva” from Marqués de Murrieta is just a touch lower in octane than the superb 2021 version, as this vintage the wine comes in at an even thirteen percent alcohol. The wine is crafted in this vintage from a blend of eighty-two percent tempranillo, eight percent graciano, seven percent mazuelo and three percent garnacha. The wine’s élevage in cask was twenty-one months in this vintage, with the barrels again all made of American oak. The wine’s aromatic constellation is utterly refined, wafting from the glass in a mix of cassis, black raspberries, Cuban cigar wrapper, coffee bean, a complex base of soil, refined Rioja spice tones and a beautiful foundation of American oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, precise and superbly complex, with a lovely core of fruit, great soil inflection and grip, fine-grained tannins and a very, very long, seamlessly balanced finish. This does not quite have the same mid-palate volume as the excellent 2021 Reserva, but it is a touch better balanced and more elegant wine. It is a great and utterly classic Rioja in the making. 2035-2085. (May/Jun 2025)"

93 points Peñín Guide to Spanish Wine: "(82% tempranillo, 8% graciano, 7% mazuelo, 3% garnacha). Colour: bright cherry, garnet rim. Nose: red berry notes, spicy, wild herbs, complex. Palate: balanced, good acidity, fine tannins. (2025)"