2015 Frank Cornelissen Magma

Community Tasting Notes (4) Avg Score: 92.5 points

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  6/7/2020 - Skaggs.1980 Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Surkörsbär, målarfärg, blodaplesin, peppar och rök.

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  4/15/2018 - nzinkgraf wrote:

  Pre-WWI, ungrafted vine. Med/+ tannin. Savory pumpkin/squash aroma. Fresher palate with wild red berry fruit.

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  3/1/2018 - ve23 Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Natural Wines on March 1, 2018 (Maritozzo, Moscow): 92+/100
  
  First comes so fizzy and raw, most folks would turn away from the bottle or even send it back. Yeast and dung.
  
  But keep it lingering in the glass or decanter for half an hour, and it straightens itself, opens up, shows depth and character, cold red berries, fine and restrained. Still too young.
  
  Yet, it’s not in any way much different or much more impressive that its smaller sibling Munjebel. Hm. My expectations were well overhyped.
  
  Natural Wines at Maritozzo / 1 March 2018

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  3/3/2017 - forceberry wrote: 96 Points

  15% alcohol.
  
  Dark, quite lightly translucent cherry red color with pale blood-red rim. The nose feels very powerful and concentrated, but also super-clean and pure - based on my previous experiences with Cornelissen's wines (from the 00's) they've been much funkier than this. What you got here are ripe and intense aromas of dark fruits, inky character, smoky stone dust, some succulent blackberries, a little bit of cherry jam and only a hint of sweet VA to remind you that this is natural wine. On the palate the wine feels very dense and concentrated, yet not particularly weighty - thanks to the very high, almost racy acidity that lends a crisp, tingly touch to the mouthfeel and keeps the wine really energetic - electric, even. The flavors are pure and well-delineated with intense flavors of tart dark berries, ripe black cherries, some sour cherry bitterness, a little bit of peppery spice, a hint of smoky volcanic character and a touch of sweet raspberry jam. The wine is intensely structured, but not just because of the high acidity; the tannins are very ample and grippy as well, although not to the extent of making the wine feel aggressive. Although the wine has very dense and structured - even chewy - character, the mouthfeel is remarkably smooth and silky. The high alcohol lends some warmth to the palate, but surprisingly little considering how high the alcohol really is. The finish is quite warm and moderately bitter with very powerful, long and concentrated flavors of crowberries, sweet cherry marmalade, some sour cherry bitterness, a little bit of brambly dark berries, a hint of crushed peppercorns and a lifted hint of balsamic VA.
  
  Normally these extremist-level natural wines tend to be both quite wild and light-bodied and crunchy in style. Although Magma 2015 is very obviously a very natural wine, it is also very unlike any extremist-level natural wine I've ever had: not only is it very clean and pure - not just by Cornelissen's standards, but also by natural wine standards - but it is also remarkably concentrated, intense, powerful and tannic in style. Yet one should not expect a big and weighty wine: it is so high in acidity it puts most of the classic Pinot Noirs to shame and the flavors are more crunchy and berry-driven than opulent, dark-fruited and very ripe. Overall the wine feels still way too young and although it doesn't feel primary in any way, enjoying this wine this young is almost like popping a First Growth Bordeaux open as soon as you get your hands on the most recent release. The cellaring potential here is so very obvious and it needs many more years - at least a decade - to realize. But even though this is perhaps the most impressive natural wine I've tasted, I'm still not convinced this was an experience worth 180€. But maybe I'll think different once the wine gets some age?

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