Frank Cornelissen Munjebel Bianco 6va

I'm coming to the conclusion that Frank Cornelissen's wines are built to drink now but with the ability to change with time in the bottle.  Due to the manner in which he bottles them I would be more inclined to open them now. Furthermore as they are a blend of vintages why would I want to cellar them anyway?

Frank Cornelissen Munjebel Bianco 6va

This wine tastes very different from the 7 version with flavours of black pepper corns and guava mixed with orange rind and hay.  There are still elements of chocolate covered caramel  laced with lemon preserve like you get from number 7 but this wine is a little more open an accessible when compared to its version from the later year.  This wine is more about texture and length than it is flavour and once it enters your mouth the liquid spreads out on your tongue like syrup.  There is a grainy components to the texture which you don't often find in many wines.  Do I like it? Well, yes I like it a lot.

Alcohol: 13%
Price: $120
Rated: 94+
Drink: Now
Importer: Addley Clark Fine Wines

Frank Cornelissen Munjebel 5 Rosso

Mount Etna has to be one of the most historically prolific yet still active volcanoes in the world and it is garnering much attention for the natural wines movements.  So why would you decide to plant a vineyard in such an area?  As the molten lava has been cascading over the landscape for centuries they have deposited all the minerals that have been laying deep beneath the earth.  As such, many regard them as revealing a greater spectrum of the soil subtypes than many other areas.  Nero d’Avola is the main grape variety but Nerello Mscalese, Alberto Aiello and Nerello Cappuccio all make an appearance in the region. 

Mt Etna erupted recently and this was a photo taken near the mouth

                                                                          John Seach

Frank Cornelissen Munjebel 5 rosso NV

This wine has been mistaken for a pinot which is normal for the variety but here you get a bit of sweaty tennis shoes, old nail, garden clay pot, spice, cherry and a nuclear cloud of oxidisation. So much so that the flavours never come through, I had this open for 3 days and never did it recover resulting in me not willing to go nuts over the wine.  Did I like it? yes.  At 60 it’s a stretch, and at 120 you have to be a hardcore trapeze artist, but its great for an education!

Alcohol: 14%
Price: $120
Rated: 88
Drink: now - 2015
Importer: Addley Clark Fine Wines

Frank Cornelissen MunJebel Bianco #7 NV

The wine is a blend of Carricante, Grecanico Dorato and Coda di Volpe all of which I’ve never tried before.  The wine is made as if it is a red wine and is definitely for the wine geek, I can understand why people wouldn’t like its flavour profile but I think for those who are trying to expand their wine knowledge you have to get your hands on some. 

Frank Cornelissen MunJebel Bianco #7 NV

 

The wine is an orange colour and equally beguiling but it seems comfortable with itself. There is a huge lemon core to the wine with everything else hanging off of it. You are swamped with peach fuzz, seaweed rice biscuits, honey, dried onion skin and lemon myrtle. While the spectacular texture and great length of this wine and the last are similar, this wine is beautifully sculpted in how it tells its story.

Alcohol: 13%

Price: ?

Rated: 95

Drink: 2011-2017

I could never do justice to the wealth of information that is available on his website so I suggest that everyone that is interested visit his site below