Winemaker Notes
This is a dry, refreshing table wine with remarkable minerality and ability to develop in bottle; in fact, it needs extensive bottle age before it is released. Grüner veltliner comparisons come to mind, with a similarly rich yet acid-driven mouthfeel and a white flower, orange zest, and white pepper flavor profile.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
They have changed the bottle and label of the 2018 Mountain Blanco, the dry Moscatel from Málaga, and it now features an old retro image. The wine was cropped from an atypical year with good spring rain and cooler temperatures that resulted in a late harvest that started on the 26th of August. It's a good year for dry wines, as the grapes didn't suffer the summer heat like in other occasions, and the grapes ripened slowly, developing full aromas and flavors. It has character and is more herbal (nettles, recently cut grass) than floral, more fruit-driven, juicy and tasty, with moderate acidity. It has a different personality. This was bottled unoaked.
There are hundreds of white grape varieties grown throughout the world. Some are indigenous specialties capable of producing excellent single varietal wines. Each has its own distinct viticultural characteristics, as well as aroma and flavor profiles.
Sierras de Málaga, established as a DO in 2001, is located in the south of Spain, in Andalucía. Interestingly, the vines in this region are planted on slopes reaching up to 3,280 ft in elevation, primarily in the non-coastal subzones such as Axarquía, Montes de Málaga, Norte and the Sierra de Ronda, although moisture coming from the Mediterranean still reaches the vines.
In this region, a wide range of grapes may be used for the production of white, rosé, and red wines. Young and inquisitive winemakers are producing more compelling wines from local grapes like Romé and Tintilla de Rota, while at the same time offering their interpretation of international grapes like Riesling, Viognier, and Pinot Noir.
Today, the Sierras de Málaga DO is enjoying a slight revival as its dessert wines are being rediscovered.