Muga Selección Especial 2020 Wine Review

Natalie's Score: 96/100

The Muga Selección Especial from Rioja D.O.C.A. is a masterfully blended Tempranillo-led red from one of Spain's most storied family estates, aged six months in new French oak followed by a full two years in seasoned French and American barrique, emerging with a captivating nose of dark wild berry, crushed violet and warm graphite, while the medium-to-full-bodied palate unfolds with concentrated flavors of black fig, dried plum and a savory thread of toasted cedar, all framed by silky, seamlessly integrated tannins and an extraordinarily long, layered finish. It is bone dry and irresistibly structured, so serve it slightly below room temperature and enjoy now through 2032. Technical director and winemaker Isaac Muga works alongside enologist Pablo Orio to carry forward a legacy that began in 1932 when founder Isaac Muga Martinez and his wife Aurora Cano, herself a gifted taster who could identify individual vineyard plots by taste alone, established the winery in the historic Station Quarter of Haro in Rioja Alta. Bodegas Muga holds the remarkable distinction of being the only winery in Spain to employ its own master cooper, hand-selecting every oak tree in France each autumn and crafting all barrels and fermentation vats entirely on site, and Wine Spectator honoured the estate as its Wine Value of the Year for 2025. Pour it alongside braised beef short ribs with a rich reduction of red wine and roasted garlic, where the wine's depth and dark fruit are a seamless match for the intensity of the dish, or serve it with a perfectly grilled dry-aged steak, letting the wine's silky structure and complexity rise to meet every magnificent bite.

Food pairings: Kobe beef, grilled steak, braised short ribs.

Best Beef Wine

This Muga Selección Especial 2020 was reviewed on March 21, 2026 by Natalie MacLean

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Please note that our reviews are based on a variety of sources: samples sent to our team, those we purchase in store, tasting events, those tasted in restaurants and while traveling domestically and internationally.

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