This is a fino by Bodegas Tradicion, one of the new stars (by the name alone you can guess it is a relatively new winery) of Jerez.

Tradicion started out focussing on VORS wines – oloroso, amontillado and palo cortados. The release of this fino – of which this is the first saca – is more recent, and in keeping with their other wines it is a high spec fino with a long time under the flor, no serious filtering etc. As befits a modern producer, the saca is dated and the bottle is numbered – it is wine made with enthusiasts in mind.

It is an amber gold in colour. In the nostrils it has the haybale of the yeast but also really has the aromas of the mosto – somewhere between grapey, half fermented cider and incontinent feline. In fact it smells a little like a jura wine – a lot of grapefruity citrus and a hint of cheese rind. The Jura-like sensations continue on the tongue – a lot more fresh fruit than dried fruit, and the yeast seems raw and fresh not nutty or bready. Despite all those years under flor it seems young and full of fruit – with a little roast almond savoury.