This is wine from palomino that I bought as a wine of the week from the discerning chaps at Coalla Gourmet.

Frankly there is a lot I could say about it if I were a proper journalist. It is made by four real live wires who probably deserve a post themselves (like this one by Paz Ivison) it is from Sanlucar, and its name refers to the “sobretablas” – the stage in the production of sherry at which the must is tried and its fate is determined (fino to the left, oloroso to the right, etc). I love comparing the way wines are labeled and here we have a pretty straightforward one, but I find it interesting that they mention on the label the “Albariza soil” which is characteristic of the sherry triangle – when you see that you wonder what they are trying to tell you about the wine. Another feature of the bottle markings is also nice – this is a wine made in two lots, and the bottles are marked “I” and “II” on the base with what appears to be albariza soil.

Anyway, I am not a real journalist so on with my drinking.

First, it is a beautiful colour – a light yellow gold – and the nose is delicious. It has aromas of juicy sweet apples but also tropical fruit like pineapple and even banana – reminds me of a very fine daiginjo sake.

On the palate it doesn’t quite live up to the awesome nose. It is softer than a lot of the palomino white wines and has that nice fruit but seems a bit undercooked/jammy/mushy almost like a natural cider from the North of Spain(nothing at all like a strumpy or anything you would get in a pub in the UK, I hasten to add). I find it a little on the gentle side acidity wise – it comes but it comes late. As a result I find it just a touch heavy.

Love the nose and real potential here just lacks a bit of structure.