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Castillo Ygay continues to be the Spanish wine that wins the most plaudits internationally. The renowned American wine critic James Suckling gave it the maximum score of 100 points for its newly-released 2012 vintage a few weeks ago.

Today it has been lauded as the top Spanish wine and has been ranked among the world’s top ten, figuring as the only Spanish wine to be ranked in this list, which is largely made up of wines from France and Italy.

Castillo Ygay has again made history after having been named “World’s Best Wine” by Wine Spectator magazine back in 2020 and thus establishes itself further as a benchmark of excellence and the expression of Spanish wines at their very best.

“We can only express our gratitude to our cellar team who work tirelessly on a daily basis in the pursuit of the highest quality in our wines. Unfortunately, the number of bottles produced in this vintage was fewer than in others, and we regret not being able to satisfy customer demand,” explained Vicente Dalmau Cebrián-Sagarriga, the CEO of Marqués de Murrieta, who is delighted with this latest history-making piece of news.

2012 vintage

“This is a legendary vintage of Castillo Ygay, which unashamedly defies the passing of time,” enthuses María Vargas, the winery’s technical director, who, herself, has been named “World’s Best Winemaker” on several occasions. An iconic Rioja wine,  Castillo Ygay is the most precious jewel of the century-old Marqués de Murrieta winery, which was founded in 1852. A part of the wine’s legendary status is derived from the fact that it is only produced in vintages that are considered by the winery as outstanding.

Castillo Ygay is made solely from the finest grapes produced from the vines of La Plana, a 40-hectare vineyard planted in 1940 and located at the highest elevation of Finca Ygay, a 300-hectare estate surrounding the winery in the Rioja Alta sub-zone.

The excitement in the sector about this newly-released vintage is felt all the more acutely, since the 2013, 2014 and 2015 vintages of Castillo Ygay will not be released on the market. And, in all likelihood, it won’t be until 2026 that consumers will be able to enjoy the 2016, the next vintage to be released.

The 100-point wine 

Castillo Ygay’s recent history is made up of a string of accolades. Throughout its history, this iconic Rioja label has won the plaudits of all the world’s wine critics in each of the vintages it has released.

Castillo Ygay is recognised as one of the most lauded wines in the world and has been awarded the much sought-after 100 points on no fewer than 18 occasions by such leading critics in the sector as Parker, Decanter and James Suckling, himself.