ONLINE FINE WINE TASTING: Miguel Merino Rioja Masterclass

WOW what a tasting! On this special evening we welcome the talented winemaker Miguel Merino Junior to celebrate the elevation of Bodegas Miguel Merino to a First Growth in the Tim Atkin Rioja Report 2021. This is Atkin’s highest accolade for a bodega in Rioja, and on this tasting we will enjoy six world-class wines that have all scored 90-96 (out of 100) by Tim Atkin and other key industry professionals.

Miguel Merino Winemaking Legend

Miguel Merino joined the wine industry in 1976 (at age 27), when he was appointed Export Director of Bodegas Berberana, one of the important producers of Rioja at the time. In 1983 he joined a group of young professionals to create Cenalsa, an institutional company that would develop the sales and exports of the wine produced by the cooperatives of D.O. Navarra. At the same time, Miguel started to work as Export Director of Bodegas Ochoa (a job that developed for 24 years). In 1991 he started his own Export Agency, Mertrading, managing the exports of a range of different wines from the best D.O.’s in the Country, and in 1992 he was appointed as well ‘man of confidence’ by the Swedish Wine Import Monopoly, Vin & Sprit. That was a key moment for Miguel, as his job was to find the best producers in every wine region of Spain, meeting and learning from them. They all encouraged Miguel to make true his dream, and in 1994 he and his wife bought an old stone house in Briones, Rioja Alta, where they built a small bodega with the aim of making the best possible wine. His first vintage, 1994 Reserva, was not released until 1999. Now Miguel has been joined by his son Miguel and his wife Erika in the project.

Bodega Overview

After a career in exporting wine, Miguel Merino realised his dream in 1990, creating his own winery. Starting with a restored farmhouse, he built a small vinification plant and barrel-ageing cellar. Miguel sources his grapes from low yielding, old vine plots near Briones, in the heart of Rioja Alta. His obsession was to find the small and old vineyards that no one else wanted to work, designed to be tilled by horses and producing intense fruits with good structure in order to produce great wines. He runs the estate with his son (also Miguel) and the wines from this small bodega are highly sought after and strictly allocated with just 40,000 bottles produced across his range of 7 wines.

Tasting Date: Wednesday 24th March 2021 at 6:30pm (the tasting will last approximately 2 hours).

TASTING FEE STRUCTURE:

For this special two-hour tasting, an exclusive tasting kit is included in the listed price which includes a 75ml tasting sample of each wine, as well as tasting mat, tasting note paper and pen. Note: Tasting kits will be despatched to attendees within the week leading up to the tasting. Approximately two weeks prior to the event, we will confirm postal addresses for all kit deliveries.

DON'T WANT TO RECEIVE A TASTING KIT? We understand that not everyone will want to receive the wine samples, and would rather just register to participate in the online evening without the wines. That is absolutely fine! The fee to just register for this evening without receiving a tasting kit is £10. Just enter the promotional code: 75REGONLY when checking out to ensure you just pay the registration cost. 

Tasting Kit: What's Included:

• 75ml tasting sample of each wine (6 in total) contained in a sterilised glass bottle and preserved with an inert gas (designed specifically for wine preservation)
• Tasting mat
• Tasting note sheet
• West London Wine School pen

Wines Included in Tasting Kit:

• Gran Reserva 2012

• Vitola Reserva 2015

• Young Vines 2017

• La Loma 2017

• Q Cruz 2015

• Blanco 2016

TASTING FORMAT:

Miguel Merino Jr along with West London Wine School founder Jimmy Smith will host this exclusive tasting live at 6:30pm on Wednesday 24th March 2021. This single-evening tasting will be approximately 2 hours in length. 

Unable to commit on the evening? No problem! Anyone registered for this tasting will gain access to the video recording of the live event, so you can always revisit any of these at anytime in the future - whether its because you missed participating in the live evening or if you want to revisit the presentation at a later date.