I retrieved these tweets from last night’s stream in order to write up my notes but to be honest I rather like them so here you have them. (You can see that on more than one occasion I was responding to my co-tweeters – sorry but I just didn’t have time to dig out all the tweets but I reckon they are still findable on twitter with the hashtag #sherryTT. There are also a lot of cracking comments from Jerez.)

As you may recall from yesterday’s post, the wines in question were: Viejo CP by Valdespino, Antique palo cortado by Rey Fernando de Castilla, VORS Palo Cortado by Tradicion, Privilegio 1860 by Emilio Hidalgo and Apostoles by Gonzalez Byass. It was a cracking tasting and we seemed to rattle through them – here were my thoughts as we went.

#viejoCP

• nice and elegant, bit quiet before the swirl, a sweet nose with buttery notes
• maybe a bit of polish but I find the nose very balanced – not too sweet or salty
• youthful on the palate – not at all astringent, nicely integrated salinity, even a bit of yeasty fruit
• burnt caramel flavours that cling on for ages – stays in good shape too

#antique

• maybe a shade darker, lovely crystal clarity
• more polish in the nose, orange peel and walnuts
• good call [by another tweeter] on leathery, and also that touch of sweet spice
• structured on the palate: a quiet start, mellow salinity and acid, big woody astringency and a lovely long citrus finish
• very mellow on the front in fact – and very long on the back

#tradicion

• darker and more red in colour – hazelnut – and for me this one has the smokiest nose so far
• smokey, orangey, tangy caramel nose
• I find this a real kicker on the palate – zingy (almost stingy) first up, fading to burnt caramel and spices
• it is brilliant – a real journey across the palate. Caramel but also smokey spice. On the back it becomes very citrus
• really is long – eternal

#privilegio

• my glass appears to be half empty (kidding)
• brilliant red colour – like a proper old ruby
• huge nose on this – napalm in the morning, with rainforest burning in the background
• incense is a great shout – and tobacco – massive nose, maybe a raspberry liqueur?
• wonderful on the palate – slightly bigger entry, real bang of astringency and salinity and then the wisdom of age
• seriously, where is the rest of the glass?
• gentlemen’s club is a great call – one where someone was making toffee and wine in the basement!

#apostoles

• lovely rich dark colour like a christmas/Dundee cake
• again smooth on the entry, then some zing on the tongue and then rich fruity followed by tobacco and cedar
• noticeable raisins and walnuts here, concentration
• lovely integration here, I like the sweet coffee description: bitter and sweet and both are good
• the sweetness hangs around a long time on the palate and is less integrated at the back – a bit two pronged
• last word – now I get pine trees and sap, a real evolution

Summaries:

• #ViejoCP after the others, like a buttery, zingy chardonnay – very drinkable and light
• #antique a light touch but some serious notes in there – lovely
• #tradicion super structure, lovely smokey citrus flavours
• #privilegio really awesome, so much power, so many flavours, so light on its feet
• #apostoles a lovely bitter coffee sweetened with cane sugar and steeped in cedar – very smooth

#podium – very difficult, but probably 3 – Tradicion, 2 Apostoles, 1 Privilegio