Bodegas Viña Magaña, Tinto Reserva

Even if you devote your professional life to studying wine, you can still be surprised by it on a regular basis. The wine world often feels too big to cover, or at least that’s how I felt when I tasted today’s bottle—a Bordeaux-style blend from the remote Navarra region of Spain.It was not from some upstart label, by the way, but from a legendary, critically acclaimed estate dating to 1970. How could I not know Viña Magaña? I remember feeling the same sense of F.O.M.O. when I tasted my first wine from Madiran’s Château Montus—itself a pioneering estate in France’s Gascony region—only a few years ago. If your reaction is to ask, “Where have you been?” my hat goes off to you: Viña Magaña is a wine I wish I knew before! Luckily, I consoled myself with today’s marvelous 1997 Reserva, a succulent red blend that performs like mature Pomerol form a top château at a fraction of the price. This, as I’ve learned, shouldn’t be a surprise: Back in 1970, Juan Magaña brought Merlot from Pomerol’s Ch