The 2012 Barrel Fermented Blanco is from an extremely dry vintage that required a strict selection of the white grapes that are intermixed with the reds in the old vineyards. It’s 90% Viura with the rest Malvasia. The must is fermented in new, mostly Nevers, 500-liter oak barrels with partial malolactic (about 20%) and aged for five months in contact with their lees. 150,000 bottles were produced. The Mugas have been paying special attention to their whites and I’ve seen a big improvement in this barrel-fermented bottling. It has a flowery, clean nose with notes of white fruit and spices. The palate is fresh with well-integrated oak, pungent, spicy flavors and good acidity. Drink 2014-2016. I think the Muga family wines have been going from strength to strength and they are offering superbly-crafted wines from their cellars in the Barrio de la Estacion in Haro. I’ve seen a big change in Prado Enea starting with the 2004 vintage. As it happens, some of their wines are selling faster than they are produced (as they are not necessarily offered in every vintage) and they had no Prado Enea to show. The next vintage will be 2006, but there will be none in 2007 or 2008 and they need to fill the gap until the 2009 is released. The vintage of Torre Muga and Aro on the market is already 2010. There’s no stainless steel whatsoever at Muga, they have kept true to their beliefs, and all their wines are fermented in oak vats of different sizes. The winery has its own cooperage to mend these old vats and build their own barrels. I spoke to winemaker Jorge Muga during the harvest and he told me 2013 is a very difficult year, the most difficult he remembers ever. Mind you, he’s a young guy. Imported by Jorge Ordonez, Fine Estates from Spain, Dedham, MA; tel. (781) 461-5767