The wine is produced in the village of Cañada, in the subarea of Alto Vinalopó in the province of Alicante. Made from 100% Monastrell planted on traditional dry land as bush vines, at 550-580 meters above sea leval and enjoying a Mediterranean climate with great marine influence due to the easterly winds.
Fondillon 50 years is mahogany in color with orange tile rim, medium layer and great density. On the nose, it has a very deep aroma of old wood, black tea and carob. In the mouth, it has a sweet entry balanced by a rich high acidity. Its aromas are long, almost eternal and very intense. It tastes like old mahogany, a very old barrel and bygone times.
"Dark mahogany color, candied fruit aromas, fruit liqueur notes, spicy, varnish, acetaldehyde, bakery, complex. Fine solera notes, bitter flavors."
- Penin 2022, 99 pts
- Penin 2023, 97 pts
"I tasted the 2021 bottling of the NV Fondillón Luis XIV Edad Superior a 50 Años - Tonel Luna (over 50 years old), which was taken from a barrel called Luna (it's written on the back label). It has the profile of a very old wine, with volatile notes, hints of iodine and low tide, coconut, antique furniture and bitter chocolate, coming through as bittersweet and at times even salty. It has sweetness, acidity and depth, and it's pungent, intense and very long; take in small sips, as a drop goes a long way, such is the concentration by evaporation. It has 16.25% alcohol with a pH of 3.35 and 6.6 grams of acidity and 65 grams of sugar. This is sweeter than the previous bottling but also with more iodine and salt, so comes through as balanced and very long. It should last forever. They filled 320 half-liter bottles from a tonel cask recovered in 2018 from the Bodegas Luna in the village of Beneixama. They took 161 liters, and the 700-liter barrel was refilled with 300 liters of wine that was at least 25 years old. They do not expect to take wine from this barrel in the next 10 years. - Luis GUTIERREZ"
- Wine Advocate (Issue #260, April 2022), 96 pts
"The NV Fondillón Luis XIV has the subtitle Edad Superior a 50 años (over 50 years old), and it's a dark mahogany, bottled from a single barrel that has the specific profile of a very old wine greatly concentrated by age, which tends to make it similar to other very old and concentrated wines, be it a Mediterranean rancio or a very old Moscatel. It has notes of bitter chocolate, coconut and iodine, carob beans (algarroba) and some bittersweet sensations. It's dense and concentrated, and the palate is pungent, with very intense flavors and a bitter twist in the finish. This has 16.3% alcohol, 6.45 grams of acidity and 34 grams of sugar, but it comes through as very dry. The wine is long and extraordinary, but it just doesn't have any Fondillón character after decades of concentration by evaporation. The price is ludicrous. Only 435 half-liter bottles were filled in December 2019. - Luis GUTIERREZ
- Wine Advocate (September 2020), 95 pts
Fondillon Luis XIV is made by Colección de Toneles Centenarios.
Colección de Toneles Centenarios is a newly created winery (2019), based on an interesting find: the barrel room of the Ferrero ...
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