Another week, another magic number. This one, the number 45, is a “fino on the way to amontillado” selected from Perez Barquero‘s Bodega Los Amigos in montilla. It is said to have an age of 20 years or so.

For an unfined, lightly filtered wine it is amazingly clear and a beautiful dark amber/caramel in colour. On the nose it is right in the sweet spot – as the team say, it is recognizably a fino with hay bales a plenty, but instead of fruit underneath there is nutty toffee and fresh pine needles.

On the palate it shows the full bodied fattiness of a pedro ximenez fino with a really slippy, rich texture. It is also rich in flavour – has a nice zingy start then a surprisingly intense, burnt, salty caramel which fades away to a sort of bitter nuttiness. Very tasty indeed.

Being very picky, it doesn’t seem to have the range and breadth of flavours of the absolute top wines but overall a beautiful looking, wonderfully aromatic and rewarding wine.