4x 100pt Winemaker CLIO Cult Spain Stunner

Thursday, December 5th, 2024

Our clients have been buying multiple cases right after tasting this gem, and now it's the last call! Only 24 bottles remain!

Juan Gil's El Nido CLIO pioneered the modern Spanish style and has remained one of the country's most sought-after wines for more than a decade. This is the most elegant vintage to date, and truly a Cult Cab Taste-Alike for under $49!

93 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (2021):

"...this also came through as fresher and more balanced than the 2020 counterpart. It has a full-bodied palate with abundant but finer tannins."

92 Points, #56 Top 100 Wines of 2024 - Wine Spectator (2021):

It is, according to Wine Advocate reviewer Luis Gutierrez, "quite stable, producing wine from very old vines with extremely low yields. They have lowered the toast of the barrels, but they keep the style of the wines quite similar."

He's not just a Shiraz and Mourvedre master—Mr. Ringland made 15 vintages (and counting) of this household favorite Garnacha: Alto Moncayo, and Volver Triga.

The fruit is harvested by hand in small baskets, picked very ripe, given a severe triage, and fermented in open top, three to four ton vats. After a meticulous selection process, the grapes are basket pressed and fermented in oak. The wines are aged in 100% new French and American oak for malolactic fermentation and for 26 months prior to being bottled.

Robert Parker on Chris Ringland:

"Chris Ringland is a relatively modest bloke who gives most of the credit for his extraordinary wines to his nearly 100 year old vineyard. He now has 21 vintages under his belt the results of which place him with Marcel Guigal, Gerard Chave, Christophe Baron, Manfred Krankl, and Michel Chapoutier as the international grandmasters of Syrah/Shiraz." -Robert Parker

While this vintage has not yet been reviewed, here's what Josh Raynolds from Vinous Media had to say in his most recent annual report on Spanish wines from this region: "For red wines that deliver extreme bang for the buck Murcia is tough to beat. I’ll go far as to say that this is the best area in the world to find over-delivering red wines...Relying mostly on the native Monastrell (sometimes referred to as Mataro, which is related directly to Mourvèdre), an increasing number of producers in the region are making wines that deliver uncanny complexity and sheer fruit impact for the money...Jumilla is by far the best known and the largest DO here, comprising almost 19,000 hectares. Monastrell rules the vineyards and most of the wines. Garnacha is also a player, producing some stunning bottlings as well. In the region Cabernet Sauvignon is also planted playing a role in some blends and occasionally bottled as a single varietal wine. While the most highly regarded wines have been experiencing price increase, the vast majority of Jumillas can still be had for a song..."

2022 El Nido"Clio" Monastrell-Cabernet

Jumilla, Spain

93 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (2021):

"The 2021 Clio is ripe and heady with generous oak. It's faithful to the house style, but like many other wines from the 2021 vintage from the Gil family, this also came through as fresher and more balanced than the 2020 counterpart. It has a full-bodied palate with abundant but finer tannins. It was bottled in September 2023. Drink 2025-2031." -LG (1/18/24)

92 Points, #56 Top 100 Wines of 2024 - Wine Spectator (2021):

"This muscular red finds fine balance and poise, integrating firm, sculpted tannins and bright orange peel acidity. Offers rich and expressive flavors of boysenberry and blackberry coulis, licorice, singed apple wood and ground coffee. Hints of toast, tar and dried mint and thyme linger on the fine-grained finish. Monastrell and Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink now through 2031. 6,000 cases made, 2,000 cases imported. - AN