Fatum Airen-Macabeo-Sauvignon Blanc
"offers up a lovely nose of green fruit, wild fennel, salty soil tones, gently musky floral tones...An excellent value!" —
John Gilman, View from the Cellar
Appellation
La Mancha D.O.
Grape(s)
50% Airen, 35% Macabeo, 15% Sauvignon Blanc, from vines averaging 35-years-old
Altitude/Soil
750 meters / large stones over clay, lime-rich clay
Farming Methods
Practicing Organic
Harvest
Hand harvested into small boxes
Production
Destemmed grapes see 12 hour skin maceration followed by pneumatic pressing, fermented in cooled stainless steel tanks
Aging
Aged on lees with battonage in stainless steel tank
Suggested Retail Price
$13
Fatum Airen-Macabeo-Sauvignon Blanc
2016
90 (WRO) 87+ (VfC) 87 (RP)
| 90 |
Wine Review Online |
Many of Fatum’s grapes come from 35-year-old vines. One of those grapes, Airen, is largely unknown outside Spain but it is, in fact, a commonly grown white wine grape according to the website Botany One. With a pleasant fruit character seasoned by touch of salinity this light, tasty wine is definitely worth seeking out. The blend is 50% Airen, 35% Macabeo and 15% Sauvignon Blanc.
May 14, 2019 - Marguerite Thomas |
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| 87+ |
View from the Cellar |
The Fatum Blanco is composed of a blend of fifty percent Airen, thirty-five percent Macabeu and fifteen percent Sauvignon Blanc and comes in at a brisk 12.5 percent octane in the 2016 vintage. The wine offers up a superb bouquet of pear, a hint of green olive, white peach, salty soil tones, a bit of fresh almond and a topnote of dried flowers. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, crisp and not quite as interesting as the nose promises, with a good core, sound acids and grip and a long, well-balanced finish. The palate is not quite as well-delineated as the nose and leaves the wine a touch chunky in personality, but one has to admit that there is a lot of personality here in any case for a wine that only retails here in the US for twelve dollars! If the palate can eventually catch up with the precision of the nose, my score will seem conservative! 2018-2025.
Issue #75 – May/June 2018 |
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| 87 |
The Wine Advocate |
The first white, the 2016 Fatum Blanco, is a balsamic and medicinal blend of 50% Airén with 35% Macabeo and 15% Sauvignon Blanc from different vineyards in La Mancha. It's minty and pungent, clean and waxy, with a pleasant soft texture and a slight bitterness in the finish.
Issue 234, December 2017 |
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Fatum Airen-Macabeo-Sauvignon Blanc
2017
89 (VfC) 89 (VM)
| 89 |
View from the Cellar |
The 2017 Fatum Blanco is composed of a very unique blend of sixty percent Macabeu, thirty-five percent Airen and five percent Sauvignon Blanc. The grapes are from organically farmed vineyards and the wine is fermented and aged in stainless steel tanks, with four months of the elevage done on the fine lees. The wine offers up an impressively complex nose of pear, lime blossoms, a hint of green olive, salty soil tones and a topnote of wild fennel. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and quite broad-shouldered, with a fine core of fruit, vibrant acids and very good length and grip on the complex and well-balanced finish. This is a fairly big wine for a Spanish white wine, but with plenty of personality and bounce. I cannot think of anything similar I have tasted, but the unique combination of grapes really works nicely here! Good juice and an absolute bargain! 2020-2025.
Issue #86 - March/April 2020 |
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| 89 |
Vinous Media |
Vivid straw-gold. Fresh melon and pear aromas are brightened by spicy white pepper and ginger accents. Taut and seamless on the palate, offering fresh orchard and citrus fruit and honeydew flavors and a frisson of succulent herbs. Finishes tight and nervy, with spicy lift and good tenacity. 2021- 2023
Josh Raynolds - February 2021 |
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