Els Jelipins
Penedès Sumoll-Garnacha Blend
Penedés, Catalunya, Spain
This wine was crazy! And good!!! El Jelipins, 2009, Sumoll & Garnacha from Penedès - wild little wine, but super delicious! Über unfiltered, it worked well here.
This wine was crazy! And good!!! El Jelipins, 2009, Sumoll & Garnacha from Penedès - wild little wine, but super delicious! Über unfiltered, it worked well here.
3 people found it helpfulMar 3rd, 2014
2010 Els Jelipins. Sumoll and garnatxa from the Penedès. If that wasn't surprising enough, this had real finesse and elegance. Volatile at first as it was gasping for air but that became more subdued. Then it moved into a minty zone with sun-dried tomatoes. Evolved on to stewed tomato water and spice. Then the minerality really started showing. Gravel, clay. Where would you place it if you'd been served this blind? Beats me. Reminds me of Matassa Romanissa Casot.
2010 Els Jelipins. Sumoll and garnatxa from the Penedès. If that wasn't surprising enough, this had real finesse and elegance. Volatile at first as it was gasping for air but that became more subdued. Then it moved into a minty zone with sun-dried tomatoes. Evolved on to stewed tomato water and spice. Then the minerality really started showing. Gravel, clay. Where would you place it if you'd been served this blind? Beats me. Reminds me of Matassa Romanissa Casot.
2 people found it helpfulOct 16th, 2015Els Jelipins 2009 (a very kind gift from, and shared with, @J_A_A). Made by Gloria and Berta Garriga in the hills Penedès. Based around the Sumoll grape, with a slightly different blend each year (depending on which rows of vineyards they decide to take fruit from). The fruit is hand-picked over a number of sessions — always early in the morning and in small cases. It ferments with the natural yeasts, without temperature control, fining, or filtration and only a touch of sulfur added right before bottling. Open-top barrel fermentation and some wax-lined oval amphorae are used, along with lengthy aging in big barrels. Each bottle is painted by hand – the design is different each year, but always includes the symbolic heart.
This has to be one of the most distinctive, intriguing and confounding red wines I've ever tasted. The first thing you notice is the cloudy ruby color. A mysterious scent leads to strong flavors of green herbs (almost medicinal) on the palate: is it tarragon or dill, or both? Elderflower perhaps? Maybe fresh olive too. Underlying this is an ever-changing red fruit core (cranberry, tart cherry), with the odd streak of wet rocks and a zippy freshness. Totally raw and wild. Impossible to pin down and paradoxical.
Ultimately, this wine was indomitable. We paired it with a full-flavored Iranian stew (ghormeh-sabzi), then with vegetarian Indian curry. The wine went remarkably well with both, though I wouldn't say it 'paired' well. You could always taste the distinct flavors of the wine, and it didn't interfere with the food, but they didn't really enhance each other either. Essentially, even robust food flavors could not tame this cloudy, 'little-looking' red wine.
After all of this, I will not say that I am gagging to try this wine again, as I'm not really sure I love the flavor profile overall … but it did grow on me over the four days we had it open. And the wine was possibly even better on Day 4 than it was on Day 1. I would definitely be happy to try it again, though, as there is no doubt it would challenge palates, ideologies and spark conversation. This is a 'real' wine, with no pretense and oodles of individuality.
Els Jelipins 2009 (a very kind gift from, and shared with, @J_A_A). Made by Gloria and Berta Garriga in the hills Penedès. Based around the Sumoll grape, with a slightly different blend each year (depending on which rows of vineyards they decide to take fruit from). The fruit is hand-picked over a number of sessions — always early in the morning and in small cases. It ferments with the natural yeasts, without temperature control, fining, or filtration and only a touch of sulfur added right before bottling. Open-top barrel fermentation and some wax-lined oval amphorae are used, along with lengthy aging in big barrels. Each bottle is painted by hand – the design is different each year, but always includes the symbolic heart.
This has to be one of the most distinctive, intriguing and confounding red wines I've ever tasted. The first thing you notice is the cloudy ruby color. A mysterious scent leads to strong flavors of green herbs (almost medicinal) on the palate: is it tarragon or dill, or both? Elderflower perhaps? Maybe fresh olive too. Underlying this is an ever-changing red fruit core (cranberry, tart cherry), with the odd streak of wet rocks and a zippy freshness. Totally raw and wild. Impossible to pin down and paradoxical.
Ultimately, this wine was indomitable. We paired it with a full-flavored Iranian stew (ghormeh-sabzi), then with vegetarian Indian curry. The wine went remarkably well with both, though I wouldn't say it 'paired' well. You could always taste the distinct flavors of the wine, and it didn't interfere with the food, but they didn't really enhance each other either. Essentially, even robust food flavors could not tame this cloudy, 'little-looking' red wine.
After all of this, I will not say that I am gagging to try this wine again, as I'm not really sure I love the flavor profile overall … but it did grow on me over the four days we had it open. And the wine was possibly even better on Day 4 than it was on Day 1. I would definitely be happy to try it again, though, as there is no doubt it would challenge palates, ideologies and spark conversation. This is a 'real' wine, with no pretense and oodles of individuality.
Owner/Wine Director Spuyten Duyvil, Fette Sau, St. Anselm & Gotham Artisanal Provisions
Super nice but it would be even nicer without the acetone/va on the nose and palette.
Super nice but it would be even nicer without the acetone/va on the nose and palette.
1 person found it helpfulJan 21st, 2015Els Jelipins 2009, Sumoll, Grenacha
Els Jelipins 2009, Sumoll, Grenacha
1 person found it helpfulDec 20th, 20142004 jelipins.
2004 jelipins.
Dec 20th, 2014
Superbra. Lite funk men övervägande söta röda bär, torkade rosor, nypon och mineralitet. Relativt lätt med bra syra och milda tanniner. Mycket energi, elegant och komplext med röda bär, örter och kryddor
Superbra. Lite funk men övervägande söta röda bär, torkade rosor, nypon och mineralitet. Relativt lätt med bra syra och milda tanniner. Mycket energi, elegant och komplext med röda bär, örter och kryddor
Apr 9th, 2022