Bodegas El Nido - Clio Jumilla 2022

A blend of 70% Monastrell and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged 24 months in French and American oak. The wine exhibits a glass-coating opaque purple color. The nose is expressive with pain grille, underbrush, brier, minerality, blueberry and blackberry fruit. On the palate is a plush, opulent wine with great density, savory flavors, and a lengthy finish. Bodegas El Nido is a collaboration of the Gil Family and winemaker Chris Ringland, one of the best Australian enologists. The winery is located in the Valle de La Aragona, inside the Murcia district of Jumilla. The vineyards are 76.8 acres of very old Monastrell vines (also known as Mataró or Mourvèdre) all vaso trained and oriented northeast, and 28.8 acres of 30-year old Cabernet Sauvignon vines on north facing hills. The vineyards have a foot deep layer of chalky stones over substrata of sandy soil.

 

A rich, toasty red, offering a silky mix of concentrated boysenberry, cassis, espresso, dried mint and black licorice flavors. The muscular tannins are tightly sprung, but well-meshed with the fruit profile, emerging to firm the finish. Monastrell and Cabernet Sauvignon. Best from 2027 through 2037.

The 2022 Clio was produced with 70% Monastrell and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon that fermented in stainless steel with neutral yeasts and matured in new French and American oak barrels for 23 months. Despite the oak used, the wine is not that oaky; it's spicy and smoky with notes of ripe berries and aromatic herbs. It's full-bodied, with 15% alcohol, a pH of 3.62 and 5.7 grams of acidity, keeping three grams of residual sugar. It's ripe and lush, with abundant, fine-grained tannins.