Rose tints my world.
Hot Patootie, Bless my soul, I really love that OAK and roll.
Well, not really.
I couldn’t resist.
You just had to touch a touch a touch that, eh?
To be honest, not one of my prouder online moments.
Given that it is Jumilla, which is arid, then: maybe the [lack of] rain is really to blame, so let’s remove the gloop, but not the acid!
You know, Frank n Furter making Rocky actually sounds like a pretty good analogy for this wine . . . .
A weak wine, getting 98 points
Will get sand in its face
When Parker anoints
Had a 2007 recently from an old stash and it was still over the top and hot. Proper expectations going in, so wasn’t surprised and others did enjoy it. That being said I was a bit disappointed to see it not evolve much over the past 8yr
I can’t believe I’m defending these wines but here goes.
The wines are made by Chris Ringland in conjunction with Jorge Ordonez, who introduced most of the US to Spanish wines, and Juan Gil, who has been trying to revive, or establish, the reputation of the region where he makes wine. Jumilla is southern, it is hot, and yes, grapes planted there are going to get ripe. It’s not the Loire or Bordeaux, where they have to bullshit about “classic” vintages, or vintages for your grandchildren. It’s also the home of Monastrell and that’s what they use in those wines. Cab is because critics and wine drinkers like Cab. It’s like you’re not serious if you don’t make Cab.
The wines were indeed made for the Parker points. He had never had wines from that region and big, fruity, amped up wines were what the partners thought he would like and they hit a home run - they got the points. OTOH, you’re not going to get Chinon from that region. So if you are offended by wines made in a warm and even hot region, then why even taste those wines? Stick to wines from cold gloomy places.
I’m not a big fan of the wines and I see no reason to age them. They don’t have tannins that will soften, they don’t have a lot of acidity, and frankly, their main virtue is the big fruit up front so why not enjoy that? But just like 
wines saved a lot of Zin plantings, those wines have reinvigorated the region. Not every wine coming out of there is like those are and there are increasing numbers of producers who are working with their indigenous grapes in hopes of producing good and even great wines.
Aging those wines? I don’t know. They’re like CdP and Riesling as far as I’m concerned - drink them young when they’re enjoyable. If you don’t like them, don’t drink them and don’t expect them to turn into something more profound. I’m not a huge fan of the Clio and el Nido, and I don’t think the scores they received were based on anything like experience with those wines over many years, but I can see why people like them. Not slamming the Loire either - I like Chinon and drink a lot of it. And it’s hard to beat biking in the Loire in autumn. But I also like wines from hot regions where the grapes get ripe and sweet.
Because they were included in a blind tasting. In the same blind tasting with a gorgeous bottle of Vega Sicilia Valbuena. (the Valbuena was at the beginning, the El Nido wines at the end)
Maybe not the OP’s style but every one of these I have had that was over 10 years of storage were great anywhere from 92-95 points. There are a lot of wines out there that are terrible early on. Even a lot of Bordeaux and some Burgundies are not really pleasant early but evolve to wonderful wine. Not everything has to be pop and pour.
Because they were included in a blind tasting. In the same blind tasting with a gorgeous bottle of Vega Sicilia Valbuena.
Which clearly is not from a warm and hot region and shows that tasting wildly dissimilar wines in the same tasting only demonstrates that the wines are wildly dissimilar. I’d take the Valbuena any day, but in the right context, I can see the argument for the Clio and El Nido.
I can’t agree that a warm climate requires that you make wines that are frooty, heavily oaked, and heavily extracted. I’ve had plenty of Jumilla that I quite liked (and I think I’d hate these wines).
Make those wines if you want to, but it’s a facile argument that they are the only option.
Oak has nothing to do with climate. Nor does extraction. Nobody said you can only make oaky wines in a warm climate. People do that in cooler climates as well. A warm climate will give you ripe grapes. What you do with them is a different issue.
And in this case what they did to those defenseless, ripe grapes was tragic.
I think you’re missing Lee’s point. Those are all choices. Plenty of Jumilla wine is quite good without being over-the-top. Much of southern Europe is quite warm and many varieties, like Monastrell, are well-suited to the climates.