2014 Bodegas Muriel Fincas de la Villa Rioja Reserva DOC 750 ml

One of our Napa Valley insider secrets is a Brazilian churrascaria (steakhouse) where a seat at the bar gets you the exact same royal treatment you get at a table… for half the price. Needless to say, it’s a great place to take a bottle of red wine and revel in one of the most incredible values in the Valley. 

Last time we went, we grabbed a couple bottles of what we decided was the perfect wine: the 2014 Muriel Fincas de la Villa Rioja Reserva. Sitting at the bar, with knife-wielding gauchos bringing us dozens of sizzling cuts of meat, the discount bar deal wasn’t the only value we were enjoying. Better than a precious, hundred-dollar Napa Cabernet we’d feel obligated to fawn over,  we wanted a rich, gulpable red whose food-friendliness would elevate the unending parade of wood-fired meat—from linguica to lamb to spicy sirloin—and whose price would encourage us to open bottle after bottle.  

But here’s the thing. Despite the decadent meal, the perfectly aged Rioja Reserva was a scene stealer, as we found our conversation returning to it again and again. Now with a couple of years in the bottle, the Muriel Fincas is positively shining, showing a soft ruby red color with a touch of garnet. The complex and layered nose of rich cherry is accented by dried violets, red roses, and the Rioja calling cards of American oak baking spices and old leather. 

For times when the meat is coming off the grill, the conversation is lively, and the mood is festive, there’s no better red around than this Wine Spectator 91-point beauty, which is made even more irresistible by its price. We may not tell you the name of the restaurant, but this wine is something we would never keep secret. 

“Traditionally made Riojas are having a moment,” Vinous asserted earlier this year, with a stretch of outstanding vintages and strong yields meaning that there’s some seriously good wine to be had—and no need to pay astronomical sums for it.

If any wine proves that’s true, it’s the 91-point Muriel Reserva, from the winery founded in the town of Elciego in Rioja Alavesa in 1926. Now run by second- and third-generation Julián and Javier Murúa, the family farm in Rioja Alavesa enjoys the most Atlantic-influenced climate in Rioja—the ocean invigorates the sun-kissed vines—and is sheltered by the rocky Sierra de Cantabria to the north.

Grown in poor clay-limestone soils, the Muriel Reserva hails from 25-year-old Tempranillo vines, which are hand harvested. After fermentation in stainless steel tanks, the wine ages for a very Gran Reserva-like 24 months in American and French oak barrels (30% of which are new), before resting another year in bottle. That generous aging regimen, plus the two additional years the wine has spent in bottle in the Muriel cellars, has produced a mellow, spiced, and long-finishing red that is an absolute pairing dream with just about any kind of meat you’d care to grill, roast, or braise at home. 

Or if you’re in Napa Valley, you might just choose to bring one when you belly up to the bar for one of the best deals in town. Take it from us, it won’t be the first time they’ve seen it.