Jorge Ordóñez & Co. N_x001A_4 Esencia 2015 (375ml) *
Product price
$99.99
Description
Sweet Moscatel taken to its outer limit, this is the Esencia bottling from Jorge Ordóñez & Co. in Andalucia, a 100% Moscatel dessert wine from the 2015 vintage. It comes from severely reduced yields (no more than about 15% of a normal crop), which concentrates the must before a slow, natural fermentation. Roughly seven years in 500-liter oak follow, leaving a wine of very low alcohol (around 7%), enormous residual sugar, and just enough acidity to keep it upright. Production is tiny.
The color runs mahogany to deep amber, and the nose is dense and layered: candied orange and marmalade, dried apricot and sultana, brown sugar, coconut and vanilla from the long barrel aging, with the roasted-grape character of Moscatel underneath. On the palate the texture is oily and nectar-like, unabashedly sweet, yet bright acidity cuts through so it never turns heavy or cloying. A note of burnt sugar lingers on the finish. This is a wine for small sips, and the sheer concentration means it will hold effortlessly.
Expert Reviews
The mahogany colored and over-the-top-sweet Moscatel 2015 Esencia #4 is super concentrated and produced in minute quantities. It's their sweetest wine, more concentrated, denser and older. It fermented very slowly from the natural concentration of the must (yields of no more than 15%), and aged in 500-liter oak barrels for a long time, close to seven years here. Time has given it extra complexity and additional layers of aromas and flavors, with traces of old concentrated wine, coconut and vanilla, marmalade, candied orange, brown sugar and roasted Moscatel grapes. It has only 7% alcohol, a pH of 3.2, eight grams of acidity and 335 grams of sugar. It's not as dense as the very old PX, but it has the texture of oil and is very sweet without being heavy or painful (often the most extreme wines are!), with a note of burnt sugar in the finish. This should be virtually indestructible given the amount of sugar and the concentration it has. 1,300 half bottles were filled in April 2022. (Wine Advocate, October 2024)
Deep amber to brown hue with a super intense and concentrated nose full of Turkish apricots, sultanas and a hint of brown sugar. Really unctuous and super dense on the palate with “painful” concentration and sweetness offset by fresh, bright acidity. Impressive and unquestionably outstanding in quality, but one can only drink small sips. Nectar-like. 100% moscatel. Drink or hold. (James Suckling)