Sunday 13 July 2014

Moscatel Promesa 17%, Valdespino

Appearance
Deep amber, quite viscous in the glass, and yes, legs.
Nose
Gorgeous nose. Made from super ripe fat juicy Moscatel raisins with all sorts of things going on. Dusty traces of oak (even for its youth), honey, a fair bit of citrus - somewhere between orange and marmalade, also very grapey and raisiny, like all Moscatel,  and slight hints of tea, toffee and turron.
Palate
Big, soft, grapey, juicy and very broad. There is an attractive and refreshing acidity which goes some way to balancing the residual sugar, and a fantastic rich grapeskin texture. This wine needs to be rolled round the mouth while drawing in air to really get the feel. It is full, yet so light. Marvellous.
Comments
Made (like most Moscateles) from Moscatel de Alejandria grapes grown in Chipiona, famous for Moscatel, which are sunned for a week to 10 days - not as long as PX -  to retain acidity. The must begins to ferment and is soon fortified to 16% to retain the natural grape sugars (somewhere around 250 g/l - not much more than half that of PX). The wine is then aged in solera for around 8 years till required for bottling. Some of this delicious Moscatel (90 Parker) is sold as Promesa and the rest ages much longer to become the famous Moscatel Toneles (100 Parker) QV.
Price
In Spain around 14.50 Euros. Liberty Wines are the UK agents, but don't appear to be listing Promesa.


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