Macharnudo power in Surtopia today. I have had this many times in the past (here is one) but I really look at this in a different way after my day on the pagos. Not looking for acetaldehide here – the haybales don’t come out even when the glass is empty – but rather the muscle of the albariza and the sapidity and those two qualities are certainly there. It is incredibly compact and austere, elegant/horizontal in profile and leaves a mouthwatering tingle that lasts and lasts (I am reliably informed that this is the effect of the caliza), giving it an incredibly fresh and refreshing finish.

I see that back in the day I was ahead of my time and compared this one with the Bota de Fino 54 “Macharnudo Alto” (which does after all come from the same neighbourhood). Reassuring to see that those notes and those of the day before correspond roughly to my thoughts now, so I am not imagining these qualities. More interestingly, a clear demonstration of the different profiles of fino that can be produced from the same grape and on the same pago (and by the same chap now I think about it) using different techniques in the solera: this stark, compact, sapid style or the big, expansive, almost fruity 54.

Delicious, classic, and illuminating. I have since been told by none other than Alvaro Giron that this (and other macharnudos) is a prime candidate for cellar ageing – “at least” five years. See you in 2021 for that one!