Viura, Garnacha Blanca, Malvasía de Rioja

Food pairings: White fish, shellfish and seafood rice dishes; also lovely by the glass or as an aperitif.

Winemaking: The grapes were picked by hand. After a gentle maceration on the skins in the press, the wine fermented in wooden vats of various sizes, with part of the fermentation in new, very lightly toasted French oak barrels from the Nevers area. It then spent four months in cask on its fine lees, with periodic stirring.

Vineyards and terroir: The vines are mainly in two valleys of Rioja Alta with a marked Atlantic influence. In the Oja valley the soils are mostly calcareous clay, giving freshness and structure; in the upper Najerilla valley, ferrous clay soils add complexity and a more mineral character. The grapes come from old, low-yielding vines. The 2025 season brought rain while the canopy developed and a sharp rise in temperature at the end of ripening, which called for a careful harvest.

Family and history: Bodegas Muga was founded in Haro in 1932 by Isaac Muga and Aurora Caño, and the family still runs it from its winery in the town's Barrio de la Estación. Muga has its own cooperage, where coopers build and repair the barrels and large oak vats used in the cellar.

In the pictures: The Bodegas Muga building in Haro; the Muga name on a gable of the winery; and the Muga sign on the winery wall. Photographs by Zarateman, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.