Enrique Mendoza Moscatel de La Marina 2009
-
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
This sweet white wine offers notes of dried apricots, honey and crème brulée. Perfectly balanced on the palate with mouth-filling, silky texture and a corpulent body, this wine unfolds into a long, fine finish. Pair with parmesan-stuffed dates wrapped in bacon, blue cheeses or almond cookies.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Enrique-Mendoza also produces a sweet 100% Moscatel fermented and aged in tank. Dried apricots, honey, and creme brulee aromas inform the nose of this tasty elixir. In the glass tropical notes, especially key lime, emerge leading to a round, smooth finish. Drink it over the next 1-2 years.
Although Enrique Mendoza founded the winery in 1989, his son Pepe now runs the business, aided by his younger brother Julián. Pepe is responsible for vineyard management and winemaking, while Julián looks after the commercial side of the company. So well respected is Enrique Mendoza that it was inducted into the prestigious Grandes Pagos de España. This group’s mission is to defend and propagate the culture of “pago” wine, meaning wine produced in a specific terroir that reflects the distinct personality of the soil and climate. To become a member, a vineyard must surpass strict quality standards and also exhibit a degree of uniqueness in terms of soil, climate or grape variety that sets it apart from the surrounding area. The association’s membership includes 25 estate wineries throughout Spain. Bodegas Enrique Mendoza is located near the town of Alfàs Del Pi, about 45 miles from the city of Alicante, and is surrounded by breathtakingly landscaped gardens. Most of the vineyards are located near Villena at an average of 1200 feet elevation, with some parcels as high as 2100 feet. Traditional plantings include Monastrell and Moscatel, although recently Pepe has experimented with international varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah. The resulting wines are typically fermented in stainless steel and aged in French oak, with long maceration (up to 28 days). Natural farming is prioritized at Enrique Mendoza. Indigenous yeasts are used, and insecticides, herbicides and fertilizers are avoided in favor of biodynamic practices. Pepe also emphasizes placing his vines under the optimal level of hydric stress to produce small, concentrated grapes; he uses computerized sensors to monitors moisture levels in the vineyard, adjusting irrigation accordingly.
Apart from the classics, we find many regional gems of different styles.
Late harvest wines are probably the easiest to understand. Grapes are picked so late that the sugars build up and residual sugar remains after the fermentation process. Ice wine, a style founded in Germany and there referred to as eiswein, is an extreme late harvest wine, produced from grapes frozen on the vine, and pressed while still frozen, resulting in a higher concentration of sugar. It is becoming a specialty of Canada as well, where it takes on the English name of ice wine.
Vin Santo, literally “holy wine,” is a Tuscan sweet wine made from drying the local white grapes Trebbiano Toscano and Malvasia in the winery and not pressing until somewhere between November and March.
Rutherglen is an historic wine region in northeast Victoria, Australia, famous for its fortified Topaque and Muscat with complex tawny characteristics.
Known for bold reds, crisp whites, easy-drinking rosés, distinctive sparkling, and fortified wines, Spain has embraced international varieties and wine styles while continuing to place primary emphasis on its own native grapes. Though the country’s climate is diverse, it is generally hot and dry. In the center of the country lies a vast, arid plateau known as the Meseta Central, characterized by extremely hot summers and frequent drought.
Rioja is Spain’s best-known region, where earthy, age-worthy Spanish reds are made from Tempranillo and Garnacha (Grenache). Rioja also produces rich, nutty whites from the local Viura grape.
Ribera del Duero is gaining ground for Spanish wines with its single varietal Tempranillo wines, recognized for their concentration of fruit and opulence. Priorat, a sub-region of Catalonia, specializes in bold, full-bodied Spanish red wine blends of Garnacha (Grenache), Cariñena (Carignan), and often Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. Catalonia is also home to Cava, a Spanish sparkling wine made in the traditional method but from indigenous varieties. In the cool, damp northwest Spanish wine region of Galicia, refreshing Spanish white Albariño and Verdejo dominate.
Sherry, Spain’s famous fortified wine, is produced in a wide range of styles from dry to lusciously sweet at the country’s southern tip in Jerez.