2018 Sabelli-Frisch Mission La Malinche

Community Tasting Notes (59) Avg Score: 90.7 points

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  4/30/2024 - James Kim Likes this wine: 88 Points

  Decanted and out into wine fridge. Now 4h after decant. Nice aromas mildly candied red cherries mixed w black cherries, a bit of green stems, some earth and bark. Palate w black cherries, a bit of dark cherry cough syrup, bark, and a bit of earth. Medium-full body w mild tannins and good acids. Moderately long finish of black cherry cough syrup. Not sure what the barrel regimen is here but wonder how much oak there is to give the cough syrup-ish flavor. This is my one issue with this wine bc that flavor does tire out my palate. I wish there was more acid to balance out the ripeness of the fruit. Abv 13.6% but feels a bit bigger, maybe closer to 14+%. Otherwise this fairly well made. 88+

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  3/20/2024 - ChrisinCowiche wrote: 91 Points

  Medium body, red blue fruit, rustic, spice, and minimal tannins. Reminds me of lemberger or sangio, very drinkable and nice presentation.

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  12/23/2023 - maxmanx wrote:

  Really thought this was a bad bottle, or too old- port like smell & look. But decanted for a couple of hours and the wine recovered- much better and even had some fruit. I'm going to drink my remaining bottles over the next year, but will remember to decant!

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  11/19/2023 - JOsgood wrote:

  Very tasty and easy drinking red wine.

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  4/19/2023 - S-F wrote:

  I had been on a podcast and they'd asked how I thought the Missions would age? And I realized I probably hadn't drunk the 2018 in well over two years, which is crazy. Don't get high on your own supply and all that? So tonight I popped one open as I was making a nice stew to see how it had evolved. The 2018 was always a bit softer than the 2019, with a little more oak and perhaps a touch of heat in its youth (the tannic Campari-notes of Mission often present themselves as heat, but on this first vintage, there def was a bit from the alc as well). Well, it presented itself very nicely, thanks for asking. It has certainly evolved and become a bit more elegant. The fruit notes have morphed into a more aged bouquet, a little more port-like (which Mission has a tendency towards even when young), without being at all over the hill. Just evolved. The oak is imperceptible to me, but I know a few others thought they could still sense it on palate. I cannot. Faded and dried strawberries. If I can sum the wine up in a picture: elegant older gentleman in a smoking jacket. Think this has an easy 10 years still of life.

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