2012 Molino Real Malaga Telmo Rodriguez

The 2011 flagship sweet wine was not produced because of the abundant rains that resulted in lots of mildew and challenges with the health of the grapes that year, so we jumped straight to the 2012. The sweet Moscatel 2012 Molino Real was cropped from a low-yielding vintage. The difference is that this is produced with grapes from Rodríguez's own vineyards and that the wine was aged in French barriques for 20 months. But the élevage seems to be crucial here and provides a unique nose that combines aromas of bay leaf, condensed milk, varnish and candied oranges that make it very distinct. It's sweet without excess and it feels like less than the 135 grams of sugar per liter that it has, finishing with textbook bitterness of the variety in the aftertaste. 2012 feels like a very good vintage for this bottling, a year with a heat wave in the summer that concentrated the grapes while some wind kept them really healthy. The wines show surprising freshness while they also have concentration and power. 8,159 half-liter bottles were filled in July 2013.