Tag: 2015
Recaredo Terrers Reserva Brut Nature 2015
Terrers Gran Reserva 2015 offers the most freshness in the portfolio. The flavours are so engaging and expressive, with creamy yellow apple and herbs, white meadow flowers and edgy, refreshing grapefruit. There are savoury, slightly earthy tones here too, but they seem to just add to the picture. 16
Raventós i Blanc Textures de Pedra Blanc de Negres 2015
Textures de Pedra uses a little Sumoll alongside the Bastard Negre red Xarel-lo Vermell to produce a Blanc de Noirs. The noticeable change from the rest of the portfolio here is in texture, with a little less fruitiness and more floral, pithy and herbal sensations presented with some viscosity and grip. Quite a serious, food-friendly style.15.5
Raventós i Blanc De La Finca 2015
Pure limestone soils and 4 years on lees. This wine is all about saline expression for Raventós, and it shows. There’s a lovely harmony between the extra depth of autolytic cream and sourdough with lithe, pithy grapefruit and a definite rocky, chalky character. Almost carbonic in its minerality. Striking wine. 16.5
Gramona La Cuvée Gran Reserva 2015
Length, finesse and clarity emerge from the entry level La Cuvée Gran Reserva 2015 with its classic flavours of ripe grapefruit, blossom honey and aromatic herbs, perked up with a polite snap of pithiness. Xarel-lo and Macabeo dominate. Excellent 16.5
The Grange Classic 2015
These wines were perhaps the most openly-styled of the Hattingley-linked producers for now, with the Classic 2015 showing a very attractive white buttered sourdough toast over quite relaxed baked fruit and a friendly dosage. I like that they have really tried to avoid anything too tense or angular in this cuvée.
15.5
Date Tasted : 07/02/2020
The Grange Pink 2015
The Pink 2015 has an extra layer of fragrance, though, with very attractive poached summer pudding fruit. I look forward to getting to know this producer better over the coming years and vintages.
16
Date Tasted : 07/02/2020
Hattingley Valley Rosé 2015
The Rosé 2015 is offering so much refinement and charm in this new vintage. A classy assembly of fragrant strawberries and redcurrants where the palate just has an extra degree of silky finesse, it has the completeness of flavour to take a slightly higher dosage of 9 g/l effortlessly. Top drawer.
17
Date Tasted : 07/02/2020
Jenkyn Place Blanc de Blancs 2015
The Blanc de Blancs 2015 was more outgoing than I remembered, wearing a touch of oak influence very dashingly. Lime tart with a dollop of crème frâiche! There are even some tropical nuances here, hinting at some really good flavour development for Chardonnay in this vintage. The focused, nervous palate is set off against some fresh-cream roundness. This will be interesting in another year or so. Oak influence without any tiring or drying out. Possibly some malolactic flavours here.
16
Date Tasted : 07/02/2020
Raimes Rosé 2015
The Rosé 2015 reaches new heights for this young producer. Kudos to everyone involved for giving it time when the temptation is always to release Rosé younger than other cuvées. There is just a touch more autolytic substance here behind the pretty summer pudding fruit, touched with gingerbread spice. Lovely clarity and texture. A resounding success.
17
Date Tasted : 07/02/2020
Harrow and Hope Blanc de Noirs 2015
70% Pinot Noir, 30% Pinot Meunier. Tasted back at the winery in Nov 2019 and awarded the joint highest score for ESW2020. This is impressive stuff. It seems a little more angular today (and possibly more open and oxidative than I remembered) but also brisling and tight. The nose is rather beautiful, broad with caramelised apricots, russet apple and sweet almond notes. There’s a gentle seam of butter and spice from some oak influence. The fruit almost goes black with wild blackberry and raspberry. Youthful on the palate, good flavour concentration and some real tightness. Excellent cuvée, perhaps a little more reservation in scoring than before. It needs time.
17.5
Date Tasted : 22/01/2020
