El Nido Clio - Vegan

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Jan/2024

2021 -

"The 2021 Clio is ripe and heady with 16% alcohol and generous oak. It's faithful to the house style, but like many other wines from the 2021 vintage from the Gil family, this also came through as fresher and more balanced than the 2020 counterpart. It has a full-bodied palate with abundant but finer tannins. 50,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in September 2023."

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Jan/2024

2020 -

"The 2020 Clio was produced with a blend of 70% Monastrell and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes that were picked at full ripeness (16% alcohol!). It fermented in stainless steel with neutral yeasts and matured in French and American oak barrels, where it also underwent malolactic and 22 months of élevage. It has a heady and creamy note, with a lactic twist and spicy notes. It has ripe fruit and abundant aromatic herbs, a full-bodied palate and abundant, slightly dusty tannins. 60,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in August 2022."

James Suckling, May/2023

2020 -

"Mocha, cassis, olives, stewed black fruit and blackberry jam. Dense, opulent and full-bodied, with broad and creamy tannins. It’s a big wine, but flavorful and polished. Vegan. Drink now."

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Apr/2022

2019 -

"Next to the 2018, I also tasted the 2019 Clio, a similar blend of 70% Monastrell and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon from a vintage marked by torrential rains caused by the DANA storm in September that delivered 200+liters of rain. It fermented in stainless steel with neutral yeasts and matured in French and American oak barrels for 23 months. It's slightly lower in alcohol than the 2018, 15.5%. I think the Cabernet was more noticeable here and it added a certain freshness to the wine, which, coupled with a little less alcohol, made the wine come through as a little cooler and more continental. All within the Chris Ringland style, of course... 50,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in September 2020."

James Suckling, Jan/2022

2019 -

"Ripe plums, mulberries, lavender, orange peel and cinnamon stick on the nose. It’s full-bodied with smooth tannins. Compact and dense, yet the alcohol is balanced. Vegan. Drink from 2022."

Antonio Galloni's Vinous, Mar/2021

2018 -

"Opaque ruby. Intensely perfumed black and blue fruits, vanilla and a suave floral nuance on the spice-accented nose. Smooth and appealingly sweet on entry and then tighter in the midpalate, offering concentrated cherry cola, black currant and exotic spice flavors and a hint of dark chocolate. Dusty tannins add shape to a very long, dark-fruit-dominated finish that strongly echoes the floral note."

Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate, Sept/2020

2017 -

"The 2017 Clio was produced with 70% Monastrell and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, and despite the warm and dry year, it has a little less alcohol than the 2016. It fermented in stainless steel with neutral yeasts and matured French and American oak barrels, where it also underwent malolactic and 23 months of élevage. Even this shows nice integration of the oak; Miguel Gil told me the wine from 2017 was so powerful and concentrated that it absorbed the oak like never before. And it's true that both wines from 2017 feel a lot less oaky and more balanced, and they have all the ingredients for a long time in bottle. There are some ashy and smoky undertones and a full-bodied palate with fine tannins a chalky texture and some sweet spices, still young and with a long life ahead of it in bottle. 50,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in September 2019."

Guía Peñin 2020

2016 -

Antonio Galloni's Vinous, Apr/2019

2016 -

"Inky purple. Powerful, spice-accented aromas of dark berry liqueur, candied violet, vanilla and smoky minerals, with a building floral topnote. Fresh, expansive and deeply concentrated, offering palate-staining blackberry, cherry-vanilla and mocha flavors that become livelier with air. At once weighty and energetic in style, finishing with outstanding clarity and smooth, steadily building tannins. (raised in new French and American oak barrels for two years)"

Wine Spectator, Aug/2019

2016 -

"Espresso and loamy earth notes frame the intense flavors of currant and blackberry in this thick red, energized by orange peel acidity and supported by muscular tannins. This is concentrated, expressive and bold, in the modern style. Monastrell and Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink now through 2032. 4,200 cases made, 2,100 cases imported."

Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate, Apr/2019

2016 -

"The 2016 Clio is a blend of 70% Monastrell and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon that hits the scale at 16% alcohol, after a two-week fermentation in small vats with neutral yeasts. Fermentation finished in French and American oak barrels where the wine also underwent malolactic and 23 months' élevage. 2016 is a slightly weaker vintage, and the wine is quite impacted by the élevage, with plenty of spicy and smoky aromas and a lactic touch too. The palate is medium to full-bodied, with plenty of tannin and a finish dominated by oak-related flavors. Wait one more year. 50,000 bottles produced, half of which are destined for the US. It was bottled in September 2018."

James Suckling, Jul/2019

2016 -

"Lots of coffee and berry character with walnut and spice undertones. Full body. Flavorful and delicious. Drink now."

Guía Peñin 2020

2015 -

Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate, Dec/2017

2015 -

"Tasting two completely different vintages of the same wine is very revealing, and having the 2015 Clio next to the 2014 showed how each of them revealed the character of the vintage. 2015 is a very complete and balanced year, resulting in classic, powerful wines with concentration and balance, and all that is needed to age in bottle. This is a similar blend as the 2014, mostly Monastrell with 30% Cabernet Sauvignon aged for almost two years in French and American oak barrels. The oak is there, but it feels like the fruit is able to integrate it with some more time in bottle. In general, there is a lot more balance and freshness than in the 2014, and the character of the Monastrell is a lot more noticeable than the Cabernet. This should develop nicely in bottle. 50,000 bottles were filled in September 2017."

Wine Spectator, Dec/2017

2014 -

James Suckling, Jul/2017

2014 -

"The same saturated style of El Nido in a more compact package. Ultra-ripe, sweet blackberry and plum compote, with dark chocolate and almond praline too. Smooth and silky. Drink now."

Gismondi on Wine, Sept/2017

2014 -

"This is a Parker wine, big, powerful red and ripe. It’s a 70 percent old vine monastrell and 30 percent cabernet sauvignon that is barrel-aged for 24 months in French and American oak. The attack is warm spicy and fruity—blueberry and blackberries to be specific - then long, warm and smooth throughout the back end. There is plenty of sweet vanilla and mocha but the wine is surprisingly in balance with the rest of the components. There are some tannins here so you could wait another three years to open this or serve it now with a big piece of meat."

James Suckling, Dec/2016

2013 -

"A deep and pretty nose is on offer here of ripe strawberries, blackcurrants and blackberries as well as some herbal character. Full and velvety with ripe and polished tannins. Lightly jammy on the finish. Delicious. Drink now."

Wine Spectator, Oct/2016

2013 -

"Kirsch, blackberry and cranberry fruit mingles with dark chocolate, anise and tar notes in this rich, ripe red. The firm tannins are well-integrated, and balsamic acidity gives this a savory note. Bold and heady, in the modern style. Best from 2018 through 2028. 6,000 cases made."

Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate, Jun/2016

2013 -

"I had two vintages to taste from the two wines from El Nido, starting with the 2013 Clio, produced from what the Gil family consider one of their most successful vintages as a blend of Monastrell with 30% Cabernet Sauvignon. It started fermenting in stainless steel vats and finished in new oak barrels where it also underwent malolactic fermentation and 23 months elevage. The oak is more evident here than in the 2012, but the wine seems to have better freshness and more acidity and in the long run it should integrate it nicely. This is always a more accessible cuvee than El Nido. 60,000 bottles.

There were two vintages of Clio and El Nido up for tasting and it was great to see the 2013s reflecting the cooler vintage and the 2012s showing riper and warmer following the style of the respective vintages. The quality level is similar, but it's more up to the personal preference for the style. It might seem a little contradictory, but the lighter 2013 feels oakier, not only because it's younger, but because the wine itself might have been a little more fragile and it could have benefited from less time in oak or perhaps even less new barriques, but here winemaker Chris Ringland is inflexible when it comes to altering the oak treatment. In the long run the 2013 would possibly be better, but for now the 2012 is more drinkable."