Jorge Ordonez & Co. No 4 Esencia Malaga 2011

Guia Penin  97 pts

Colour: bright yellow. Nose: honeyed notes, floral, sweet spices, dried herbs. Palate: rich, fruity, powerful, flavourful, fine bitter notes.

Robert Parker  96 pts

With 7% alcohol, 9 grams of acidity and 375 grams of sugar per liter, the 2011 Esencia nº4 is produced with overripe Moscatel de Alejandría grapes from their oldest vineyards, which are dried for a couple of months in wooden boxes in the shade. As the alcohol level is so low (the second vintage in 2005 only reached 4%), the wine is not recognized by the Málaga DO, in fact it's labeled as "partially fermented must" and the raisins obtained need to be macerated with must of the old vines before pressed. I'm told you need 30 to 35 kilos of grapes to produce one bottle! Fermentation is very slow, about one year, and it's carried out in small, neutral French oak barrels where the wine matures for two years. It has an explosive, exotic nose mixing aromas of white flowers, bay leaf, Mediterranean herbs, evaporated milk, dried apricots and caramelized peach. The palate is sweet and dense, but at the same time it feels light, subtle and complex. The difference with the Old Vines is only the grape selection and the maceration with the must, and I wonder if that's what adds the extra dimension in complexity. A sweet elixir, truly an essence of Moscatel, which should be eternal. Only 1,022 375-ml bottles were produced.