Jorge Ordonez Botani 2007:
I went to a tasting the other night with a number of winemakers and representatives from Jorge Ordonez’s portfolio at Craft in Atlanta. There were a lot of nice wines there, certainly many worth commenting on. But this one really stuck out to me. This is the only dry white in the portfolio started by Jorge and the late Alois Kracher in Malaga. Made from 100% Moscatel, this wine has a slightly greenish color and a nose of ripe melons, freshly cut flowers and honied citrus. White peaches, apricots, exotic tropical fruits and lime zest play together on the mid-palate. Crisp and refreshing, I think this wine could find its way onto any wine list managed by an adventurous sommelier. Needless to say I really enjoyed it. I expect the highest price you will see for this wine around the country is about $20. Try it out when the weather warms and you won’t be disappointed. 91 points
Costco actually had this today for $15 a bottle and I almost picked one up out of curiosity. Thanks for the note.
John, You’ve probably tasted JOI wines for a while now. What was your over all impression of the wines? Were you pleased with the over all style of winemaking? I saw Jorge in an interview with GV. and got the impression he has quite a bit of control over how the wines are made and fasioned. Just curious what your thoughts were.
JC
FWIW, I like Botani. Very good wine, although I wish it were cheaper. More and more of Jorge’s wines are ending up at Costco because, as we will all see in the next 12-24 months, Spain is suffering from the same disease as Australian wines.
Jorge has a hand in many wines in his portfolio.
Recently he sold Nora, Naia and Cenit, all labels he created and part owned. This, of course, after Numanthia was sold (which he had a nice stake in).
These sell offs coincide with my theory that many regions of Spain will suffer like Barossa and McLaren Vale. Jorge is a very smart man. He would not be selling off if he felt he could continue at the sales pace that he had.
Jorge’s sister, Victoria, is now in charge of this project. She studied under Alois Kracher. She is very smart.
What is her wine background?