Bodegas El Nida Clio 2006

Spanish wine you say? Really? Apparently from the Jumilla region, I couldn't get any sense of terroir off of this absolutely lush wine-candy. This is a super high scoring Parker wine that has gone from costing around $20 USD to $45 ($90 in Canada) in a matter of 2-3 years. I suppose that's what consistent 95+ scores will do for a winery. This, however, is certainly set to be controversial.

The colour was a nice pretty purple, reminding me a little of one of the many beautiful sunsets that grace English Bay in Vancouver. The nose here was like raspberry and cherry candy, with vanilla custard poured on top. A very big and very oaky palate made this a cream puff kind of wine, with a deep and extracted quality to the fruit. This had tons of chocolate, cassis, cherry and raspberry as the driving force, but managed to retain a decent amount of acidity so as to avoid being overly sweet and flabby. At 30% Cabernet and 70% Monastrell (Mourvedre) there is almost no way to detect any varietal characteristics. This is not ideal for food because it is so extracted, candy-like and alcoholic (15.9%), but it is great for the style.

If I can be so bold, I would call this a Spanish version of Mollydooker's Carnival of Love, which if you have tasted and enjoyed The Boxer is a much more complex and better structured version of that wine. In fact, I might even say that I like this better than the $100 (even in the US) bottle of Carnival of Love. I can see why Parker would give this a good score for if you are into the style, this is a great value wine (at least for those lucky US residents).

Very Good+
$45 at K&L