Bernabeleva Cantocuerdas Moscatel Dulce 2015 50cl

100% Moscatel Blanco.

Einzellage auf 770 m ü. M. Die Rebstöcke sind ca. 50 Jahre alt. Während 48 Std. wird das Traubengut gekühlt um eine langsame Extraktion zu erzielen. Die Vinifikation findet in 500 Liter-Fuder statt. Worauf eine 15-monatige Fassreifung folgt. Es findet keine Batonage statt. Jährlich werden gegenwäritig nur gerade 2000 Flaschen abgefüllt.

eRobertParker.com #231 | June 2017 | Luis Gutierrez | über den 2015er Jahrgang
The sweet 2015 Cantocuerdas Moscatel Dulce, produced with the grapes from one single vineyard planted some 45 years ago at 720 meters altitude on sandy granite soils close to a water stream where grapes ripen without over-ripeness. It achieved 15.4% alcohol and some 66 grams of unfermented sugar. It aged in used barrels for 15 months. The balsamic nose, redolent of bay leaf with something creamy that made me think that it was going to have something bitter, despite the notes of honey, orange blossom and Moscatel pulp and that minty note that adds freshness. The palate felt very balanced, with freshness to compensate the sugar, it feels like a very good year for this characterful sweet wine. 1,000 half-liter bottles produced.
There are a couple more wines to complete the already quite wide range from Bernabeleva. All four whites are completely different, with the common theme of that almost-saline note you can get in the whites from San Martín de Valdeiglesias. As for the reds, the 2014s are simply stunning. They have now reached 93,000 bottles in total.
I had the chance to taste a couple of wines from 2007—their first "serious" vintage now ten years after the harvest—when they had to buy all new barrels that for sure marked the wines. They have come a long way since then, but oak aside, the wines were still showing very much alive, so the current ones should not age for shorter.

Bernabeleva is a family property that had vineyards planted since the early 20th century, but the winery, as such, started as recently as 2007. Raúl Pérez worked as a consultant here, starting up and establishing the winery and wines, as the owners did not really have hands-on experience in winemaking, but had vineyards in the family for decades. Probably his most important contribution was to bring in young winemaker Marc Isart. Pérez is no longer directly involved in the wines, his conditions were that he could only do it for two or three years to help them in the beginning, and Isart is now fully in charge. Their first vintage was only 2007, a very good vintage, but they used 100% new barrels that year and the wines are certainly marked by the oak. The wines from 2012 and 2013 are much more balanced, with better integrated oak and moderate alcohol and ripeness. 2012 is their best vintage to date. Bernabeleva is the name of the estate, where they own 30 hectares of old vines.