Swig’s Artisan Wine Tip of The Week
Group hug. At some point or another, we’ve all been let down by life and love. It’s part of the rough and tumble of existence. Well Swig are fighting back and handing out a few assurances. This, for example, is one of the most unequivocally pleasurable reds we have ever tasted. We guarantee it will not let you down, but his guarantee does not extend to wine masochists, who can look towards under-ripe vintages in the Haut-Medoc for their pleasures.
There is no shortage of new wave Spanish reds that require a calculator and degree in particle physics to understand; gruff, unyielding, introverted things that need to be intellectually deconstructed before you can ‘enjoy’ them. Well this is just the opposite. It’s voluptuous and curvaceous in all the right places with a wealth of fruit that builds on the palate to a hedonistic explosion of fruit. It is a blend of two thirds old vine Monastrell (planted in the 1940s) and one third Cabernet Sauvignon, aged for 2 years in new French and American oak. The winemaking is overseen by Australian winemaker, Chris Ringland, whose own Three Rivers Shiraz has scored 100 points in four vintages. Needless to say, highly recommended!
Swig Tasting note: “Wow! It’s pretty on the outside, but the interior decoration is absolutely stunning! Every surface is covered in flavour. On the nose it offers up sweet vanilla and subtle Asian spices from the new oak, as well as creamy red and black berries and a delicate hint of dried purple flowers. The palate is carpeted in plush, ripe berries, sweetened by white chocolate, creamy strawberries and malted barley. It’s a bold, exuberant, powerful wine, but it has so much energy and panache that you don’t feel its weight in a cumbersome way. Its ultra-ripe tannins coat the mouth in a layer of velvety luxury and as the flavours finally and regretfully taper away, you are left with notes of blackcurrant and sandalwood.
Just magnificent!
15% alc. Drink now-2018”
Recent scores in Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
2008 Clio Bodegas El Nido not reviewed yet
2007 Clio Bodegas El Nido 94 points
2006 Clio Bodegas El Nido 95 points
2005 Clio Bodegas El Nido 95 points
2004 Clio Bodegas El Nido 97 points
2003 Clio Bodegas El Nido 96 points
El Nido Bodegas El Nido, Jumilla 2008
Swig Tasting note: “The ‘El Nido’ is Bodegas El Nido’s icon red and it’s jolly good, but then so it should be at £90.00 a bottle. It’s even more intense and concentrated than the Clio, more of a brooding, dormant monster waiting for sufficient time to pass before it’s ready to wake up, whereas the Clio is already drinkable and full of élan and brio. Here the ripeness and sweetness of the fruit is immersed in the wine’s richness, its huge structure encasing a deep well of inky black fruit and ravishing latent complexity. If you have time on your side and a healthy offshore account, then 6 bottles of this will reward you handsomely in a decade or two’s time. It is a blend of two thirds Cabernet Sauvignon and one third old vine Monastrell.15.5% alc. Drink 2018-2030”
Recent scores in Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
2008 El Nido Bodegas El Nido not reviewed yet
2007 El Nido Bodegas El Nido 96 points
2006 El Nido Bodegas El Nido 97 points
2005 El Nido Bodegas El Nido 98 points
2004 El Nido Bodegas El Nido 99 points
2003 El Nido Bodegas El Nido 97 points
Website: www.swig.co.uk
E-mail: [email protected]
I try to keep an open mind, but not so open that my brains fall out.”
– Harold T. Stone
Swig Wines Ltd, 188 Sutton Court Road, London, W4 3HR fax 0208 995 6195 Company Reg. No 0598 2489
James Bloom
James Bloom is a wine buyer, wine taster and wine writer at Swig, purveyors of artisan wines in Chiswick. James spends each day trying to find wines that “punch above their weight, unearthing rough diamonds and spotting tall poppies”. www.swig.co.uk
Clio Bodegas El Nido 2008 bottle
Swig: artisanal wine merchants, staffed by exhuberant people, who live, breathe and sleep artisanal wine.
Swig wine tasting notes: stunning interior decoration and sweetness of chocolate.
