2013 Frank Cornelissen MunJebel Bianco

Community Tasting Notes (7) Median Score: 90 points

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  10/28/2017 - forceberry wrote: 92 Points

  This should be MunJebel Bianco 10 by the original system of Cornelissen, but as the wines aren't Vino da Tavola anymore, they can be labeled with the vintage designation and the name with numbers has become obsolete. This is a blend of Grecanico Dorato – a variety better known as Garganega – (60%) and Carricante (40%) from three 40 years old, high-altitude vineyards. Spontaneously fermented with the skins over 4 days in epoxy containers. Even though the wine was lightly filtered upon bottling, the wine needed to be decanted, as there was quite a bit of deposit in the bottle.
  
  Somewhat cloudy, medium-deep lemon yellow color with a slightly murky appearance. The nose is rich, wild and quite volatile with aromas of bruised apples, some balsamico vinegar, a little bit of sandy soil, a hint of honey and a lifted touch of nail varnish. Overall the nose feels quite sweet, but not as funky as some earlier iterations of Munjebel Bianco - even though the "wild" natural character is still quite obvious. The wine is wild, funky and very tangy on the palate with almost racy acidity and intense flavors of ripe white fruits, some sweet balsamic VA, a little bit of apple jam, a hint of nail polish remover and a touch of dirty, earthy funk. The wine is mdoerately structured with rather pronounced, firm tannins. The finish is funky, dirty and rather animal with quite pronounced, astringent and somewhat bitter tannins and sweet yet bone-dry flavors of bruised apple, some balsamic VA character, a little bit of quince and a hint of leather.
  
  In my tasting of 12 orange wines / skin-contact wines, this was one that really stood out among the crowd. This wasn't really the "best" or the biggest favorite among the crowd, but practically everyone agreed that it was wildly different wine and quite funky and natural even though almost all of the wines in the tasting were more or less natural, practically all of them having added sulfites in the ballpark of 0-15 mg/l (i.e. from "nothing" to "next to nothing"). However, most still appreciated the wine's unique character and its kaleidoscopic, constantly changing nature - it was overall a bit challenging for some, but still it was agreed that the wine was of high quality and definitely among the best wines in the tasting.
  
  For me Munjebel Bianco wasn't a new experience and it was everything I expected it to be from my previous experiences. Good, classic stuff that is really wild, yet still very sophisticated and approachable. Will age for good many years more. Not particularly cheap at 31,41€, but still worth the price.

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  4/14/2017 - MikeATL wrote:

  Smells like pear cider, but on the palate it is a strong hit of salt and umami where you'd expect fruit. I'm not sure how much I like it, but it's interesting and would probably be better with food.

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  8/2/2015 - Finare Vinare wrote: 91 Points

  Pale gold, cloudy/chalky & fizzy appearance. Lovely floral nose with notes of lees, ale yeast, tea, bitter orange & bergamotte lemon, fresh mountain herbs & orange flowers. Very special taste with high acidity, grippy tannins, leesy flavours, and a dry mineral finish. We appreciate this orange Etna a lot, probably the best version of Munjebel bianco we tasted so far.

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  3/30/2015 - Biglama wrote: 79 Points

  kon nog geen hoogte van de wijn krijgen, lesprobleem, binnenkort in de herkansing

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  12/27/2014 - JohanPe wrote: 89 Points

  Funky, deep yellow-dust appearance. Orange peel, Loranga, sweet fruit, some smoky tones, really good. Strong acidity on the palate, still the orange fruit in the frontseat. Really like the energy in this, the wine never let you rest, consantly throwing you new impressions to contemplate. My first Munjebel Bianco and it certainly got my attention.

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