2003 Turo d'en Mota
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Tasting notes
2003 was another odd year. The summer was suffocating, with extremely warm days, but the crop was saved by some rain at the end of August and early September. The potential 2003 Enoteca Turó d'en Mota shows concentration from dehydration rather than real ripeness, and everything is concentrated, including acidity, which delivered a wine with a pH of 2.83. The average temperature was higher, 16.4 degrees Celsius (versus the average of 15.6 degrees Celsius), but it wasn't dry, with 557 liters of rain (the historical average is 528 liters). The grapes were picked the 3rd of September, 4,536 kilos, which represented a yield of 26 hectoliters per hectare. Mata explained that years of concentration tend to show more rusticity, so the handling of the grapes and wine is different, gentler. The wine was disgorged after 19 years and three months with lees in the bottle, and it shows the contrasting sensation of ripeness and mellow fruit with pungent acidity.
Critic scores
Average Score
Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
It's difficult to live up to the 2001, and even more in a torrid vintage, but still the 2003 Turó d'en Mota is a superb effort, a real triumph over the conditions of the vintage. Fine bakery aromas, faintly smoky, perfumed with some balsamic aromas of camphor and petrol, but no traces of heat anywhere. The wine was disgorged after more than 10 years in contact with the lees and no matter how elegant this is, it has the clear signature of the place and wouldn't be mistaken for Champagne. It's clearly a very elegant Cava, but showing its rustic side, the character of the place where the pure Xarello grows on the old vines planted on very chalky soils. Really lovely, tasty Cava, superb, not only in the context of the vintage, but also in the context of all sparkling wines in the world! 3,378 bottles produced.
Village: Sant Sadurni d’Anoia. Vine age: 75 years old. Xarel.lo. Vineyard aspect: mostly north east. Climate: Mediterranean with continental influences. Soil type: calcareous-loam. Vineyard size: 1.5 ha. Yield: 4,400 kg/ha. Xarel.lo. The vintage 2003 was a very difficult one with a sweltering heat but with a little miraculous rain at the end of the harvest. This is one of the most sought-after cavas, completely biodynamic, with minimum ageing of 10 years. The wine was the first single-vineyard cava ever. It has a very pure expression of cava showing lots of ripe apple, quince and yeasty character. The palate is deep but still refreshing and very salty. Bubbles are superbly integrated. Not the most complex vintage for Turó d’en Mota but still really outstanding. (FC)
It's difficult to live up to the 2001, and even more in a torrid vintage, but still the 2003 Turo d'en Mota is a superb effort, a real triumph over the conditions of the vintage. Fine bakery aromas, faintly smoky, perfumed with some balsamic aromas of camphor and petrol, but no traces of heat anywhere. The wine was disgorged after more than 10 years in contact with the lees and no matter how elegant this is, it has the clear signature of the place and wouldn't be mistaken for Champagne. It's clearly a very elegant Cava, but showing its rustic side, the character of the place where the pure Xarello grows on the old vines planted on very chalky soils. Really lovely, tasty Cava, superb, not only in the context of the vintage, but also in the context of all sparkling wines in the world! 3,378 bottles produced. Jun 2015, www.robertparker.com