Wine Advocate 91
"The 2009 Dignus (50% Tempranillo, 25% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon) also exhibits a Pomerol-like perfume of mocha, black cherries, mulberries and cola. There is lots of richness, sweet, well-integrated tannins, full body and a hefty, lush mouthfeel. It should continue to drink beautifully for another 4-5 years." ~ RP

" Barón de Magaña an estate-bottled wine made by Bodegas Viña Magaña in the Navarra DO, just northeast of Rioja. Spanish wine aficionados who consider Navarra strictly a source for bulk wines would do well to reflect on what owner Juan Magaña has accomplished. Thirty years ago, Juan had a vision. After researching the best wines in the world, he decided to grow Bordeaux grapes in Navarra. He bought Merlot cuttings from a nursery that sold to a famous châteaux in St. Emilion and Pomerol, and most notably the hallowed Château Pétrus. Starting as a pioneer in Navarra, over the years Juan’s bodega has become a reference point for quality in the region. The 100-hectare (247 acre) estate is located just south of the Ebro River. With a focus on the Merlot grape, Barón is the most serious of the winery’s lower-end bottlings. At once, Baron shows power and bright flavors with no green characters, with a structure that is integrated and harmonious. The southern district of Navarra has limestone that imparts characters of minerality and acidity that are unique to this place. Of the varieties grown on the estate, Merlot is best able to capture the minerality of the soil. "~ Winery notes

About Bodegas Vina Magana

Juan Magaña, now entering his sixth decade of proprietorship, could easily rest on his laurels as one of the elder statesman and original visionaries of Navarra. Instead, he's making some of the most interesting wines of his career.

The story starts in the late 1960s, when Juan found himself working in Madrid but yearning to return to the Tudela de Navarra countryside of his winegrowing, bread baking and cheesemaking forebears. It could have ended with his turning out enough Garnacha Rosado for a comfortable rural existence, but you've probably already guessed that it's about to take a far more interesting and idiosyncratically personal turn.

On a visit to Bordeaux, his favorite wine country (just a quick hop across the Pyrenees from Navarra, remember), a lazy meander through the Médoc brought him nearly by chance into what would become a close friendship with one of the most sought-after vine nurserymen in Bordeaux, a supplier to some the most illustrious châteaux on both banks. It was this encounter that led him to begin experimenting with Merlot and Cabernet back home in Navarra, and to this day some 80% of his sixty-hectare surface is planted to one of those two varieties, which form the gutsy and firm but deeply satisfying backbone to the majority of his wines.

Another fascinating element to Juan's approach is his penchant for holding significant quantities of mature wines in both tank and bottle after barrel aging, only bottling and releasing certain Reserva and Gran Reserva cuvées when he deems them perfectly on point. (An approach, it should be pointed out, which plays very nicely with his varieties of choice, and results in spectacular ready-to-drink wines of unexpected freshness and verve.)

Through collaboration with his son Diego (now a hotshot up-and-comer in Bierzo and the Rioja Alavesa), Juan has stayed true to his unique vision while generally freshening up his style over the years and also embracing Navarra's local specialty, Garnacha, to an extent that has surprised even him. Every year sees a few more parcels of old rootstocks grafted over to Garnacha, and we're proud to introduce his varietal 'Los Cascajos' bottling to the United States!

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