Pale ruby. The nose is delicate with medium intensity notes of fresh red berries/fruit, some dark earthy notes, and light aroma of spice, cloves and pepper. On the palate theres sweet cherries, strawberries and that dark earthy mineral tone. Quite light bodied, high acid, ripe silky tannins. Long energetic finish, albeit somewhat monochromatic. Introverted, but interesting and well made wine, as per usual with Envinate. Decanted for around one hour before consuming over three hours, without any significant development through the evening. Infected with covid at the moment, affecting the sensory system to some/unknown degree, first bottle from a case and will be interesting to taste again soon!
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Volcanic Wines of North London (Must & Lees): Shockingly reduced (like the Envinate white we had earlier). Pale and lacking concentration, and somewhat elegant, yet very grippy. I didn't mind drinking it but this cerebral, individual wine lacked deliciousness.
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TWS North London; Volvanic Wines at Must & Lees (Must & Lees, N1): 12% - bliss! Really funky nose which blew off. Sour raspberries; very sharp acidy; tannic; I'd argue there wasn't enough fruit/body to round it out (12% ABV takes as well as gives?). Boosted an extra point after a second glass later in the eve, by which point it had settled down a little.
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Volcanic Wines (Must and Lees, N1): Like the white very eggy on opening, clearly a house style. Sweet fruit and bizarrely resolved tannins, feels significantly more developed than the bottle age would suggest. Bright red, like pinot noir and indeed this does have a burgundian character to it with red fruit such as sweet cherry. A likeable wine despite the crazy nose.
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TWS North London - Volcanic Wines (Must & Lees, N1): This didn't do it for me in a very similar way to the Envinate Blanco - I think the contained, inward house style is a little too austere for my palate. Very reductive nose which does slightly diminish after time. Tart cranberry, a rubbery note, cardamom, clean and transparent on the palate. Smooth and delicate with high acidity. It does lack a bit of character and interest for me: maybe too refined?!
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The nose has delicious, sweet cherry fruit, rounded out with lovely strawberry aromas and a hint of vivacious redcurrant. The fruit, if nothing else, would make one lean toward beginning to think it had the suggestion of the shades of a hint of Burgundian character.
Then there is the effect of the soil-type Taganan 2020 is grown on. Here things move from Burgundy to Hades!
Taganan has suggestions of brimstone, black pepper and black powder to it. It Is sulphury, but in a very slightly reductive manner.
So, I will give the Taganan 2020 a vigorous swirl in my glass. Good, the sulphur retreats, but never quite disappears. That is fine; you do not want a wine to be totally inexpressive of its tarangawaewae.
What emerges on the nose of the Taganan 2020 is a rich earthiness. A rocky and stoney earthiness, but earthy in a way not entirely dissimilar to the way some red Burgundies can be earthy.
So Taganan has good, fresh red fruit, a rich earthiness and is quite elegant. That sounds pretty Burgundian to me!
Of course, Taganan 2020 is far from a clone of Burgundy, very far indeed. However, if only two red wines existed in the world, Screaming Eagle and Domaine Dujac Clos de la Roche, it would be the ‘Dujac’ that you were thinking smelled a little odd today.
Taganan’s palate is charged with lovely, sweet, ripe fruit! Yummy, yummy! Cherries and strawberries, mainly, but there is extra energy given to the palate by some tart redcurrant flavours and spiced vigour.
Indeed, Taganan 2020 has a very energetic and lively palate, with bright, fresh flavours giving vivacity and drive and a good, silky tannic structure. It is quite dry and savoury as well.
That dryness is, in part, driven by the merest hint of an ‘Australian caught on camera ball tampering’-character to the tannins, but mostly they are elegant and silky and the sandpaper roughness is only a slight hint.
And that slight hint of roughness is an expression of the Taganan 2020 terroir. There is a tumbling of metamorphic minerals and stone rolling across your palate as you tease apart the other flavours. Good! We want wines to speak of their origins!
All of these characteristics are wrapped up in a neat, elegant little package that is very light and extremely refreshing. It is both savoury and fruity. It is energetic with moderate silky tannins. It is… Burgundy?
No! Of course Taganan 2020 is not Burgundy! But, as I intimated at the beginning, if you can no longer afford the real thing, this might scratch the itch. Wonderful.
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So big on the nose now. Velvety and sensual. A sensational wine in all the vintages. I'm obsessed with this wine. No need to expand on it further here! It's just so absurdly serious.
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Ruby purple. PnP. From the start even cellar cold it delivers a typical nose of flowers with a bit of animal smell (not annoying of course), cherries, ashes and smoky elements and spices as white pepper. On the palate light on its feed, but with high intensity just not as long and concentrated as the margalagua of course, but outstanding anyway. 5/12/17/9. -2028. 95 from Gutiérrez are a bit high for me.
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Opened for 10hours. 12% As usual ash and roses, with very fragile red fruits and spices. Alluring aromatic. Excellent tension on the palate with some ripe fruits, excellent saliviting acidity, fade away to some chalk, savouriness, salinity, with super fine, almost unnoticeable tannin that gives a gentle grip for a even better finish. A wine that deserved closer attention in order to enjoy the full profile.
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11/4/2023 - Oysteih Likes this wine:
Pale ruby. The nose is delicate with medium intensity notes of fresh red berries/fruit, some dark earthy notes, and light aroma of spice, cloves and pepper. On the palate theres sweet cherries, strawberries and that dark earthy mineral tone. Quite light bodied, high acid, ripe silky tannins. Long energetic finish, albeit somewhat monochromatic. Introverted, but interesting and well made wine, as per usual with Envinate. Decanted for around one hour before consuming over three hours, without any significant development through the evening. Infected with covid at the moment, affecting the sensory system to some/unknown degree, first bottle from a case and will be interesting to taste again soon!
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5/4/2023 - NickA wrote: 89 Points
Volcanic Wines of North London (Must & Lees): Shockingly reduced (like the Envinate white we had earlier). Pale and lacking concentration, and somewhat elegant, yet very grippy. I didn't mind drinking it but this cerebral, individual wine lacked deliciousness.
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5/4/2023 - Jamieson12o wrote: 89 Points
TWS North London; Volvanic Wines at Must & Lees (Must & Lees, N1): 12% - bliss! Really funky nose which blew off. Sour raspberries; very sharp acidy; tannic; I'd argue there wasn't enough fruit/body to round it out (12% ABV takes as well as gives?). Boosted an extra point after a second glass later in the eve, by which point it had settled down a little.
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5/4/2023 - oenanthe Likes this wine: 88 Points
Volcanic Wines (Must and Lees, N1): Like the white very eggy on opening, clearly a house style. Sweet fruit and bizarrely resolved tannins, feels significantly more developed than the bottle age would suggest. Bright red, like pinot noir and indeed this does have a burgundian character to it with red fruit such as sweet cherry. A likeable wine despite the crazy nose.
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5/4/2023 - Joshvoulters wrote: 86 Points
TWS North London - Volcanic Wines (Must & Lees, N1): This didn't do it for me in a very similar way to the Envinate Blanco - I think the contained, inward house style is a little too austere for my palate. Very reductive nose which does slightly diminish after time. Tart cranberry, a rubbery note, cardamom, clean and transparent on the palate. Smooth and delicate with high acidity. It does lack a bit of character and interest for me: maybe too refined?!
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5/1/2023 - David Strange Likes this wine:
The nose has delicious, sweet cherry fruit, rounded out with lovely strawberry aromas and a hint of vivacious redcurrant. The fruit, if nothing else, would make one lean toward beginning to think it had the suggestion of the shades of a hint of Burgundian character.
Then there is the effect of the soil-type Taganan 2020 is grown on. Here things move from Burgundy to Hades!
Taganan has suggestions of brimstone, black pepper and black powder to it. It Is sulphury, but in a very slightly reductive manner.
So, I will give the Taganan 2020 a vigorous swirl in my glass. Good, the sulphur retreats, but never quite disappears. That is fine; you do not want a wine to be totally inexpressive of its tarangawaewae.
What emerges on the nose of the Taganan 2020 is a rich earthiness. A rocky and stoney earthiness, but earthy in a way not entirely dissimilar to the way some red Burgundies can be earthy.
So Taganan has good, fresh red fruit, a rich earthiness and is quite elegant. That sounds pretty Burgundian to me!
Of course, Taganan 2020 is far from a clone of Burgundy, very far indeed. However, if only two red wines existed in the world, Screaming Eagle and Domaine Dujac Clos de la Roche, it would be the ‘Dujac’ that you were thinking smelled a little odd today.
Taganan’s palate is charged with lovely, sweet, ripe fruit! Yummy, yummy! Cherries and strawberries, mainly, but there is extra energy given to the palate by some tart redcurrant flavours and spiced vigour.
Indeed, Taganan 2020 has a very energetic and lively palate, with bright, fresh flavours giving vivacity and drive and a good, silky tannic structure. It is quite dry and savoury as well.
That dryness is, in part, driven by the merest hint of an ‘Australian caught on camera ball tampering’-character to the tannins, but mostly they are elegant and silky and the sandpaper roughness is only a slight hint.
And that slight hint of roughness is an expression of the Taganan 2020 terroir. There is a tumbling of metamorphic minerals and stone rolling across your palate as you tease apart the other flavours. Good! We want wines to speak of their origins!
All of these characteristics are wrapped up in a neat, elegant little package that is very light and extremely refreshing. It is both savoury and fruity. It is energetic with moderate silky tannins. It is… Burgundy?
No! Of course Taganan 2020 is not Burgundy! But, as I intimated at the beginning, if you can no longer afford the real thing, this might scratch the itch. Wonderful.
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4/14/2023 - DanyMorcos Likes this wine: 92 Points
Nose: smoky blackberries, cherries, wet fur, cracked black pepper, flint, tomato, cinnamon, and light chocolate.
Palate: light bodied, minerality + slight bitter salty note on the finale.
So interesting.
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4/1/2023 - ricard Likes this wine: 95 Points
So big on the nose now. Velvety and sensual. A sensational wine in all the vintages. I'm obsessed with this wine. No need to expand on it further here! It's just so absurdly serious.
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1/28/2023 - Caruso Likes this wine: 93 Points
Ruby purple. PnP. From the start even cellar cold it delivers a typical nose of flowers with a bit of animal smell (not annoying of course), cherries, ashes and smoky elements and spices as white pepper. On the palate light on its feed, but with high intensity just not as long and concentrated as the margalagua of course, but outstanding anyway. 5/12/17/9. -2028. 95 from Gutiérrez are a bit high for me.
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12/10/2022 - Sleepy Dave wrote:
Opened for 10hours. 12%
As usual ash and roses, with very fragile red fruits and spices. Alluring aromatic. Excellent tension on the palate with some ripe fruits, excellent saliviting acidity, fade away to some chalk, savouriness, salinity, with super fine, almost unnoticeable tannin that gives a gentle grip for a even better finish. A wine that deserved closer attention in order to enjoy the full profile.
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