Bodega 4 Kilos - Grimalt 2021

Druvor

60% Callet and 40% Fogoneu

Tasting note

I also tasted the still unbottled 2021 Grimalt/Caballero, which was resting in tank to be bottled after having matured in one 600-liter barrel and a 225-liter one. It follows the path of the 2020, with purity, elegance and subtleness, perfume and a fine-boned palate. The wine feels relaxed and subtle, with the aroma of the Mediterranean landscape in spring, floral and fresh, with red berry fruit and aromatic herbs. Right now, the wine is amazing; it could even surpass the already phenomenal 2020.

I visited 4 Kilos in Mallorca, which I had not done since early 2019. They keep working in the biodiversity of their vineyards, doing studies of the fauna and planting flowers to increase the life and the pollinating agents.

2021 was a cooler year in the style of 2018, and 2022 was warm and dry, more in line with 2019. As for 2023, it was also a cooler year with higher yields and still very young. From what I tasted from barrel, the wines are fresh and perfumed, very promising and elegant.

Robert Parker Wine Advocate

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4 Kilos, the project created by Francesc Grimalt and Sergio Caballero as a scion of Ànima Negra in Mallorca in 2006 is the quality leader of the island. They have around 15 hectares of vineyards on the island, and many of the vines grow in what is locally known as "call vermell" soil (ferrous red clay with limestone and small to medium-size rocks). 2019 was a ripe and low-yielding vintage that delivered concentrated wines, while 2018 was more balanced and typically Mediterranean. 2019 was quite concentrated, a year with a lot of color and powerful wines. 2018 was much cooler, and the wines are fresher and transparent. In fact, 2018 seems like a superb vintage here, possibly the best they have produced to date. 2020 looks like a very good vintage, a year without much heat, wet and with some challenges and an early vintage. If they are lucky (they hadn't started picking yet) they will get a vintage similar to 2018 and 2016: 2018 is their finest vintage to date, followed by 2016 and 2013. They produce 80,000 bottles.

Se specifikation

• 2019 - Robert Parker Wine Advocate - 96p
• 2018 - Robert Parker Wine Advocate - 97p
• 2017 - Robert Parker Wine Advocate - 97p
• 2015 - Robert Parker Wine Advocate - 95p
• 2012 - Robert Parker Wine Advocate - 94p

Origin of Wine name

4Kilos (or 4 million pesetas) was the initial investment made by Francesc Grimalt and Sergio Caballero, the partners of the recently created Mallorcan cellar 4 Kilos Vinícola SL. A modest investment for this sector that demonstrates that a good wine doesn't necessarily depend upon a great economic effort but an ambition for quality and a passion for the product. 4Kilos is unmistakeable in its signature and a declaration of principles.

"The 2012 version of their eponymous 4 Kilos is a blend of Callet with 10% Manto Negro. This represents quite a change from the 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Callet and 10% Merlot used in the 2010. The blend changed in 2011, and grapes are sourced from three different vineyards, two in their village, Felanix, on clay-rich soils and a third vineyard in Binissalem where the soils are rich in chalk and it's where the Manto Negro is grown. Half of the wine fermented in stainless-steel vats and the other half in 2,500-liter oak vats aged for one year in 225- and 600-liter French oak barrels. 

Bright ruby-colored with a nose of beef blood, iron, Mediterranean herbs, aniseed and raspberries. The elegant and balanced palate is fresh and fluid, with very fine tannins, and while light it also has stuffing.

I had a preview of the 2013 that will be bottled in February. They like the wines to spend two winters maturing before bottling. They introduced some fine-tuning changes in this vintage. It looks really fresh and showy and will be be something to look out for in a few more months, as they sell their wines pretty quickly. 16,000 bottles were produced".

The Wine Advocate