Clos Mogador, "Nelin" Priorat White 2010
|
94
Wine Advocate
The 2010 Nelin is a little tease! At first it seems anonymous and then unfurls with subtle, seductive aromas of apricot and Clementine, all with very fine delineation (not a million miles away from a young Laville Haut-Brion.) The palate is medium-bodied with a very composed entry. It has wonderful harmony and a crisp, very focused finish, with racy acidity cutting through the quince and candied orange peel. It has very good persistency on the finish and has the substance to suggest it will age well.
(a blend of 40% garnacha, 20% cabernet sauvignon, 20% syrah and 20% Carignan): Inky ruby. Pungent, highly perfumed aromas of dark berry compote, licorice, incense and smoky minerals, with a sexy floral overtone. Juicy, penetrating and energetic on the palate, offering intense black and blue fruit flavors and a suave violet pastille nuance. Packs a serious punch but comes off as lithe, finishing with excellent clarity and smooth, harmonious tannins. This wine has become increasingly elegant in recent vintages, a development that I find thrilling.
|
|
|
|
Clos Mogador, "Nelin" Priorat White 2013
|
94
Wine Advocate
“The 2013 Nelin was bottled in April 2015, so it has had a much longer élevage than before and they even hope to hold onto the bottles for a few months before selling it. It has a very expressive nose of yellow flowers, pollen, beeswax and quince intermixed with some earthy, clay-like aromas. The palate is more delineated and fresh than the nose hints, great acidity and saline, marine flavors ending salty. It’s a very tasty, unusual and nuanced white produced in a different, more oxidative style than the majority of whites nowadays. Just great.”
|
|
|
|
Clos Mogador, "Nelin" Priorat White 2016
|
95
Wine Advocate
The white from Clos Mogador, the 2016 Nelin has concentration and a juicy palate with a flinty/reductive twist that makes it somewhat funky/austere. It matured for one year in oak foudre and six months in stainless steel before bottling. This is a blend of six grape varieties (but with a base of Garnacha Blanca), and the wine has great complexity and nuance. It fermented very slowly and for a long time, and like the other 2016s, it has notable acidity that compensates the alcohol, making it unnoticeable.
|
|
|
|
Clos Mogador, "Nelin" Priorat White 2020
|
96
Wine Advocate
The 2020 Nelin suffers a bit in comparison with the 2019 vintage that I tasted next to it. There was some mildew, but less than in other zones, and they produced a little less wine. The wine is concentrated, powerful and ripe at 14.5% alcohol, reflecting a warmer year of lower yields. It has some fine tannins. They always play a little with the skins, but he doesn’t like the skin contact with the Garnacha Blanca, but even so it shows, also I guess because of the character of the year. The wine is compact and powerful, not as nuanced as the 2019, a little foursquare and in need of time in bottle and/or powerful food. 6,500 bottles produced.
Medium gold hue. Complex and intense with a subtle note of croissant-like pastry to the Mediterranean spices, stones, tropical fruit, yellow nectarines with a hint of oxidative complexity that touches the sweet spot. A hint of honey, too. Full-bodied and voluminous with solid structure on the palate. Some tannins and fresh acidity go hand in hand. What a serious but fun white to enjoy now. Macabeo, pansal, picapoll blanc, cartoixa and others.
|
|
|
|
Clos Mogador, "Nelin" Priorat White 2021
|
96
Wine Advocate
Marking the 20th anniversary of this white wine, the 2021 Nelin was produced with Garnacha Blanca, Macabeo, Xarel.lo and Picapoll white and Cariñena Blanca—in the future, there will be more and more of the last two varieties in the blend, a big change from the beginning. Produced with the juice from the direct pressing, the wine spent one year in oak and six months in tank. It’s balsamic, eminently Mediterranean and ripe, with 14% alcohol (a little lower through the change of varieties) and notes of hay and straw, aromatic herbs and waxy apples. It has volume and density but with the freshness from a cooler year. It’s approachable but should develop a lot more complexity with time in bottle. They planted three new hectares of white grapes, so volumes will grow in future years. 10,000 bottles.
|
|
|
