2015 Telmo Rodriguez Molino Real Blanc

Telmo Rodriguez and Pablo Eguzkiza know each other from their studies in oenology at the University of Bordeaux. Telmo then worked for a few years at companies such as Cos d'Estournel, Petit Village and Gérard Chave. Pablo Eguzkiza worked under Jean Claude Berruet and was jointly responsible for Peter's wine. After several wanderings they both returned to Spain and started the company Compañia de Vinos Telmo Rodriguez, which focuses on the production of quality wines in Spain. In the meantime, this company has become one of the most renowned producers in all of Spain.

The Molino Real is one of the very best dessert wine in Spain (and considering the price, we dare to state that this wine is a shame compared to its French counterparts). The grapes are picked by hand, after which they get matured for at least 20 months in small wooden barrels. This Molino Real is golden yellow in the glass. In the nose we smell notes of honey and ripe pear. In the taste tropical fruit, soft herbs and very subtle, beautifully interwoven wood tones. The wine is nicely sweet but also fresh and this makes a dessert wine really good so we completely understand that this wine has received no less than 95 points from Parker.

95/100 Parker

Telmo Rodriguez:

Winemaker Telmo Rodriguez is labeled as one of the young lions of the Spanish wine industry. He studied at the University of Bordeaux and later in the Rhône with the famous August Clape. He was the winemaker of La Granja Senora De Remelluri, the bodega of his father in Rioja. He left there to become, what some would call, a flying winemaker. Telmo, however, prefers to call itself a 'driving winemaker'. he lives in Madrid and drives the car to the areas where he makes wine. His wines have found their place on the international playing field in a short time. One example: in Tom Stevenson's Wine Report 2008, Telmo is listed among the top 10 producers from Spain.

Characteristic of Telmo is that it opts for native grape varieties, which are also pruned in an indigenous way. That means that he only works with 'bush vines' or vines that are not guided along wires but grow as independent bushes. The bushes are also further apart than with wire guidance. This has two advantages in hot Spain: every shrub finds sufficient moisture, also in dry vintages and the clusters hang in the shade of their own leaves, so that they are less 'stewed'. Telmo likes to work with old sticks, so that the roots are deep to find moisture. It also improves the quality of the grapes. Old sticks give a lower yield, but of high quality and complexity.
Although not formally certified, Telmo works organically: it does not use artificial fertilizers or insecticides / pesticides.

In the year 2002 Telmo Rodriguez, the sympathetic Spanish superstar, acquired a few hectares of very old terrace vineyards in the hills of Valdeorras in Galicia, in the far north-west of Spain. The grapes that are planted here are the white Godello and the red Mencia. They are local varieties that feel particularly at home here in this relatively cool and humid climate and, if well cared for, can produce particularly fascinating and beautiful wines. During the first few years a lot of hard work was done to restore the somewhat dilapidated vineyards to good condition. The full harvests were sold to the local cooperative. The 2004 harvest was the actual introduction for the Godello and with the red Mencia, Telmo waited two more years. The wines owe their name to the river Xil, which meanders through the vineyards here. Both wines are remarkably successful. The relatively cool climate produces two particularly elegant, aromatic and refined wines.