2002 Bodegas El Nido Jumilla Clio
~$40US 70% Mourvedre/ 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, Jumilla Spain
I’ve been waiting to try this, the first Clio vintage, for awhile…This wine has a bit of a cult following and has received some massive ratings. I originally bought the bottle because I thought the label design was gorgeous. Little did I know what was inside was even more remarkable. The color was plum, and ever-so-slightly transparent. A taste just after opening; waaaaaay too young, hot, tannic, and spiky. I decanted for 4-5 hours and tried again…now it was starting to sing. Enormous aromas of violets, iris, dark berries, black pepper and black currant jam on the nose. The floral notes kicked what would be a typical ‘fruit bomb-style’ up a notch into something much more finessed and complex. On the palate Clio revealed itself as a powerful and structured wine. A brazen, mouth-filling attack, big fruits, some oak, tobacco, bittersweet chocolate-covered-cranberries. Firm, mouth-drying tannins after 6 hours(!) make me predict this as a 15+ year wine. Sweet long finish. It paired well with a Korean braised short-rib stew. Wonderful wine; I can’t wait the try the 04 (in the year 2020). Or Clio’s daddy, the El Nido.
Be patient. Massive and fruity, young, sexy, built and seriously fun. Seriously.