A wine in between moves: Xabregas Mad Men of Riesling 2015

I’m moving at the moment, which means that my whole world is in a box in one place or another – everything feels misplaced, even though it is not lost (theoretically).

It’s an unnerving state of mind, and not even beer is helping.

This Riesling is something of a stopgap wine then, serving to fill the hole until I unpack/work out where I live.

From the outset this Mad Men of Riesling is deliberately provocative; a still, cloudy Riesling bottled in a sparkling bottle with a crown seal. Put that on the table and watch minds spin!

This is produced with skin contact and ‘minimal intervention’, which is a similar mode (winemaking-wise) to last year. It looks just a fraction broader than the ’14, but again with those wonderful aromatics – all lychee and tropical fruit. It’s a riot of a Riesling really, all  fruit salad and mango fruit through the middle, before a dry and firmly phenolic finish, the the bitter acid a contrast to the chunky and juicy flavours.

While this doesn’t quite flow perfectly, it grows on you (don’t serve too cold), with a cracking contrast between fruit wildness and powerful acidity. Interest +, I like this as a drink, even if it’s not pure and ‘classic’. Best drinking: 2016-2020+. 17.8/20, 92/100. 12.9%, $30. Would I buy it? I’d go a couple of glasses for sure.