El Nido 2017

The 2017 El Nido was produced with a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Monastrell fermented in stainless steel with neutral yeasts and matured in a combination of French and American oak barrels for 23 months. This regularly hits the scale at 16% alcohol; it's a ripe, powerful and heady Mediterranean red with generous oak produced in a very specific style that will not please everyone. This is heady and ripe, super powerful with concentration and clout, but in balance. As with the Clio, I feel the integration of the oak is better than ever. Don't get me wrong, this is still generously oaked and ripe. I often describe this as an XXL red but with balance. This has all the ingredients and balance to develop nicely and for a long time in bottle. It has to be one of the finest vintages for El Nido, more Mediterranean than the 2016. 5,500 bottles produced. It was bottled in September 2019.