NUN Vinya dels Taus - Xarel.lo

Xarel.lo | single vineyard | oude stokken anno 1945 | wijngaard bevind zich op een plateau tussen de bergen (voormalig vliegveld in de burgeroorlog) | vergist en rijpt op Frans eikenhout van 300l | 50% nieuw en 50% 2th & 3th fill | bite | power | veel rijpheid | hout goed geïntegreerd | romig | body | zuren ondersteunen uitstekend | gigantische wijn | decanteren aanbevolen

Enric Soler

De wijngaarden van Enric Soler zijn in de Spaanse burgeroorlog een vliegveld, maar inmiddels ligt de wijngaard er strak bij. Enric is in de jaren negentig de beste sommelier van Spanje geweest en inmiddels doceert hij ook aan de wijnuniversiteit. De 2,5 hectare heeft hij overgenomen van zijn opa, waar hij nu wijnen maakt met een echte Bourgondische insteek. De grond waar de Xarel.Lo staat aangeplant is arm en het weer vaak koel, juist daardoor werken de stokken hard en dat proef je terug!

Review

After a very dry 2016, 2017 saw more rain and a warm end of the season, and as a result, the Xarello grapes used for the 2017 Nun Vinya Dels Taus were picked with good ripeness while keeping the acidity. The grapes come from 0.67 hectares of vines planted in 1945. It fermented in 300-liter oak barrels, 50% new and 50% second use, where the wine matured for eight months, until it was bottled without clarification or stabilization. The wine is a baby, still a little marked by the élevage in new oak barrels, and it has a flinty/reductive note I find in some white Burgundies. But there is a lot of purity, and there is a very simple explanation here: They have gradually reduced bâtonnage, and they didn't do any in 2016 and 2017. This has some of the citrus, orange peel-like freshness that I also found in the Istiu, and the oak feels neatly folded into the fruit. All of the 2017s seem to have very good acidity, great freshness and purity. I'd wait a little bit longer before pulling the cork here. This wine is now sold without appellation of origin. 2,840 bottles were filled in May 2018. Luis Guttiérez - 95/100

Enric Soler produces 10,000 bottles of wines wine per year, including one of the most personal whites from Spain: the Nun Vinya dels Taus, which is produced from an old Xarello vineyard planted in 1945 that he works biodynamically. Contrary to many other regions in Spain, 2016 was extremely warm and dry here. 2017 was a more normal year, but the end of the season was warmer and the ripeness was accelerated, resulting in the earliest harvest ever. However, acidity didn't drop, and the wines, which are very aromatic, expressive and open, also have good freshness. But what I love is that the four whites each have a marked personality. A name to follow. I also had the chance to taste all the vintages of the flagship Nun Vinya dels Taus, from the initial 2004 to the current 2017, and none of the wines were over the hill. The 2005 is perhaps the most evolved and has started showing some honeyed notes, and it is also the ripest, with 14.5% alcohol; the initial 2004 is possibly the most fragile. I'd say the wine starts showing its best at age six to eight. But there are basically three eras: 2004 to 2009, when the oak seemed more evident, then there is a jump in quality from 2010, and then again from 2013. Surprisingly, the 2017 seemed to have the freshness of the 2013 (and the years were very different, but Enric Soler told me both had great temperature differences between day and night). I wanted to get scores for all of the wines but didn't write detailed tasting notes for the older vintages, so they are here in a very rough draft/sketch form. Luis Gutiérrez