Month: May 2016

Palo Cortado Reliquia 

~ sharquillo ~ 4 Comments

How does one write a tasting note about a wine like this? It is a massively old Palo Cortado by Barbadillo that after a 100 years or so of quiet excellence (the ficha has a nice potted history) was launched to superstardom (and correspondingly astronomic prices) by being awarded 100 points by the Wine Advocate. This one was purchased as a team effort and consumed during a cracking dinner last night.

The colour is paler than I expected – a honey gold as you can see – and it had a lot of sediment. The nose was terrific – a little bit of furniture polish then citric sweetness, toasted nuts, fresh sawdust and chamomile, some salty sea air.

Most importantly, for such an old, concentrated wine it was beautifully elegant and integrated and as a result highly drinkable. Very dry but not at all astringent, with salinity and acidity that warm the tongue without being harsh, and big umami flavours of nuts, toasted nuts and a trace of orange zest bitterness. No edges to it, very silky on the palate and an immensely long, mouth watering finish. 

A beautiful highly drinkable old wine.

Manzanilla en rama Blanca Reyes

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Not seen this in a little while and it is much missed – a lovely yeasty manzanilla. Big acetaldehide profile making it fragrant and aromatic- lots of chamomile and nuts – and a bready, umami solidity to it on the palate, more of a buzz than a zing. 

It was absolutely brilliant with this asparagus salad in Sacha last night: not just any asparagus – a rare breed of some kind with a very celery like flavour – very simply prepared and absolutely delicious. 

Samaruco 2013

~ sharquillo ~ 1 Comment

The second of three red wines made by Bodegas Luis Perez and big brother of the Garum. I really enjoyed the Garum 2014 this week and this is just as good or even better.

Whereas the Garum is Merlot, Syrah and Petit Verdot from various pagos, and with 12 months in american and french oak, this is just 50% Syrah and 50% Petit Verdot, from a single pago (Corchuelo, which according to this plan is just before Añina as you head out of Jerez – based on the label we are looking at the Vistahermosa vineyard), and with 16 months in new french oak.

My memory may be failing me but this seems very similar in colour to the Garum – the bodega describes it as black cherry which works for me. Of the two this is maybe a touch clearer. The nose has dark fruit and a slight herbal character – maybe not as much as the Garum but it is there – then on the palate it again has that dark fruit with salinity, then some chocolate, then soft tannins that dry but don’t bite, then maybe a little bit of bitterness and again a saline, mouthwatering finish.

Very nice, silky smooth stuff.

 

 

Vinoble 2016

~ sharquillo

Very sad to be missing out on Vinoble 2016, the International Exhibition of “Noble Wines” (which they define as fortified, dessert and natural sweet wines) organized every two years in Jerez. (I must say I find the name a little ironic given the relatively minor importance the vines are generally given in the elaboration of these wines, but maybe it is a good omen for the future.) According to the website the event will include 900 wines from all around the world, including Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain (of course) Switzerland, and Uruguay.

It must be said the board above (photo borrowed from the TL of @VinosSanlucar – the Bodegas Artesanas de Sanlucar de Barrameda) looks a bit more Iberian dominated. I count 34 exhibitors of which 26 are fundamentally dedicated to spanish wines and institutions, 4 to portuguese (Taylors, Poças, O Lusitano, and Terras do Portugal), one is a distributor of wines from all over (Vinos Perea) and there are three from the “ROW” (Sweetbordeaux (France), VS AY SA (Romania), and Quady (USA)). There are, as you would expect, plenty of the wines of Jerez, Sanlucar, el Puerto de Santa Maria, Chiclana, and Montilla Moriles in attendance.

It is a trade gathering and the emphasis is on international buyers and professional events – there are some very high quality tastings arranged during the course of the Exhibition itself. And that is just the main program. As so often with these International Exhibitions there is also a lot going on around the “fringe” – a lot of cracking parties, bodega visits, dinners, lunches and all sorts have been organized.

And the truth is I am sad not to be down there. I have a love-hate relationship with these big gatherings. They are really no way to get to know a wine in my view.  Neither am I from the trade. Nevertheless I had intended to go and had my work not intervened would have done. It would have been a fantastic opportunity to meet some of the winemakers I admire, see some friends again and celebrate their successes, find out what is new – to be quite honest I am intrigued by the wines from the Canary Islands and Valencia that will be on show, not to mention the “internationals”- and just generally see what is happening.

So from stuck in Madrid, with a heavy heart, I wish all of those down in Jerez a fantastic few days. I sincerely hope you sell the traditional wines of Southern Spain to buyers around the world and I look forward to seeing my twitter timeline fill with photos of glasses clinking, ice buckets, rare bottles, suelfies, and all the rest. Cheers!

 

 

What’s in a name

~ sharquillo ~ 1 Comment

I recently saw a post by Erik Burgess of MontillaMorilesWines.com  pointing out that “Andalucia’s oldest bodega”, Alvear, in Montilla Moriles, “can nevertheless not call itself sherry”. It struck me as an odd point and one that gave me pause for thought.

I must be honest my first instinct was to question the argument. (Frankly what does being in Andalucia and being old have to do with it?) But aside from petty snarkery it also made me think about an issue that has been bothering me for a while.

I am a “sherryblogger”. I like to think of myself as part of the “sherry revolution” (not the silent part). I often tag my tweets “sherrylover”, go to events called “sherryfest” and receive Christmas greetings where “sherry” replaces “merry”. “Sherry” is a big part of my life.

But, frankly, I can’t stand the name “sherry”, and I wondered why a famous old bodega like Alvear would want to saddle their lovely wines with such a moniker.

I have no doubts about the value of “sherry” as a brand, its historic importance, long tradition, and contribution to the “cause”. Neither do I doubt the value of the work put in over the years to protect the name from foreign usurpers. In fact the frustrated desire expressed by the above post shows the value placed in the name by those not entitled to use it.

But I dislike it. I prefer the slightly clunky but much more accurate “wines of Jerez and Sanlucar”, for a number of reasons. (In Spanish I occasionally use “Jereces” but even then under silent mental protest.)

First, and foremost, because I feel that “sherry” contributes to the widespread misconception that “sherries” are somehow a category apart from other wines, undeserving of a place in the wine list or even on the same aisle in the supermarket as the other wines. It is not the only culprit on this score – the lack of vintages, the lack of recognition of terroir, and much of the paraphernalia (the terrible “catavinos” glasses) add to the impression. There is also some truth in the fact that many (not all) of the wines of Jerez and Sanlucar are produced in a fundamentally different way and have highly distinct characteristics. Nevertheless, they are wines (fortified or not) and I strongly feel it would be better if we refer to them as “wines” rather than “sherries”.

Second, because the baggage accumulated over the years by the word “sherry” is not all positive. Not all the wines sold under the name have been as good as they should be, and even when they were, the term “sherry” has become synonymous with certain styles of wines and as commodities, without much room for distinction. If you did a word association with sherry back home I bet the first matching words would be “trifle” and “cooking”. (Yes sherry is great to cook with but it shouldn’t be on the same shelf as the vinegars.)

Third, because it does a misservice to the enormous variety of the wines produced in the region – finos, finos del puerto, manzanillas, manzanilla pasadas, amontillado finos, amontillados, palo cortados, olorosos, amorosos, mediums, creams – they are so different that when someone asks you to define “sherry” in few words you can only do it at a high level of abstraction.

Geographically too, “sherry” gives precedence to Jerez and neglects (or maybe subsumes) the other centres in region, in particular Sanlucar and el Puerto, but also Chiclana and others. This may be no more than historical fact, but I think it is a shame not to celebrate the diversity of terrain at least a little bit. (I also recognize that my “wines of Jerez and Sanlucar” is incomplete but look you only get 140 characters on twitter …) If I had my way in fact we would be talking about Miraflores, Mahina, Macharnudo, Balbaina, los Cuadrados, Carrascal, Añina, etc.

Shapesmoke swoon of avalon may once have said, “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”, but I honestly believe that if you gave a wine enthusiast some of the wines of Jerez and Sanlucar they would like them more if you didn’t tell them they were “sherries”. In this respect just look at the guys at Equipo Navazos – in many respects the model to follow in terms of the marketing and promotion of these wines. They talk about “the traditional wines of Andalucia” and they celebrate their diversity like crazy (to the tune of 60 odd different wines and counting in just over ten years). You see the same at Emilio Hidalgo, with their “Vinos Genuinos de Jerez”.

So while I will keep on blogging, and drinking, and generally doing everything I can to further the revolution, I will not be killing in the name of “sherry”.

Garum 2014

~ sharquillo ~ 2 Comments

Described as “entry level” by its maker, Willy Perez, this is a red table wine from Merlot, Syrah and Petit Verdot grown on various pagos in Jerez, with 12 months in american and french oak.

Relatively dark in colour and the nose puts you in mind of jammified blackberries, but spicey and herbal  – salty rosemary or oregano or a mix of the two. On the palate it has those jammy blackberries, nice acidity and soft tannins – and maybe I am imagining it but it seems saline to me – makes my tongue water. 

Good stuff on the entry level – looking forward to the upper floors now. 

Amontillado 2003, Williams Coleccion Añadas

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I still haven’t managed to find a moment to open the whole box together but continue to pick off lone bottles of these añadas one by one: so far I have tried the 2009s and now this one (if we are not counting the 2006). Of course they are all similar wines – from the same pagos, made by the same maker in the same bodega – but it is still really remarkable how clear their shared signature is – and indeed I recently had a chance to try the “historic vintage” oloroso and that too was clearly a slightly older brother to these.

And, like those other wines, this is an absolute belter. A beautiful old gold colour (just look at that camerawork), it has a lovely refined nose with hazelnuts baked in granary bread and just a bit of that sweetness in the background. Then on the palate it is wonderfully smooth and elegant, with very refined flavours – nuts, yeast, and minerals. Not all that concentrated but full and seamless – like an opera singer with no vibrato. On the ficha that Williams & Humbert were kind enough to send me they say “rounded” and it certainly has no hard edges.

That tasting note is in fact rather confusing – I had assumed that this was an amontillado on the basis that the flor had given up the ghost in the cask, but according to the ficha it was at some point fortified to 18º (and presumably some time ago, because it finishes up at a hefty 20.5º – which by the way you would never guess in a million years), before being classified as an amontillado in 2016.

However it was made, it is brilliant, and it is absolutely shocking how little of this is available. I am not going to say where I got it just in case I can still get some more.

Fino en rama Arroyuelo, saca de marzo 2015

~ sharquillo ~ 3 Comments

This wine for me is defined by its minerals, even compared to other finos. Some sacas are exhilaratingly saline, so zingy that they are like the famous “salty knives” of Sanlucar, others are less piercing but still structured, and you get more of the apple juice fruit as a result. (It is, of course, from Finca Matalian.)

The saca from last September was of the latter school, and I remember at the time I tried it that I would like to see the comparison with this one from March last year. Several weeks have gone by since then so I am not able to compare faithfully but this certainly seems to have a more mineral feel – real zing and structure, and also big volume, and instead of apples more along the lines of celery and green leafy vegetables, just a hint of that salad-like spiciness.

Really good stuff yet again.

 

Jerez: a look forward

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W&H-LUIS PEREZ 3

Since 2014 and the celebration of Jerez as European capital of wine, Williams & Humbert, has organized a “Ciclo de Conferencias” and on Friday the guest speaker was one of the most revered voices in Spanish winemaking: Luis Perez Rodriguez (on the left in the photo above, with Jesús Medina, director of W&H), a renowned academic and professional, formerly of the legendary Bodegas Domecq, now of Bodegas Luis Pérez, and multiple prize winner for his enological research. I have never met him personally, but people that I consider to be authorities cite this man as “the” authority. Indeed, just this weekend I was sent a link to this account of the conference with the explanation that this was “the person with the most complete knowledge of Jerez by a considerable distance”.

So it is no surprise to hear that over 150 turned up to hear what he had to say – I wish I had been one of them (in fact I missed two great events this week – Alvaro Giron Sierra gave one of his tours de force in Barcelona on Tuesday). As it is, I have only seen the press stories and the press release that was kindly sent to me by Williams & Humbert but from what I have seen some excellent points were made. As such, since I have found no translation I have had a stab at my own below – not as elegant as Don Luis’ original phrasing but one does one’s best .

W&H-LUIS PEREZ 2

As the title above suggests, the main thrust of the presentation was forward looking, and focussed on how to win greater value for the wines of the region, although interestingly he appears also to have addressed one of the issues that I find most fascinating about the region: the dichotomy between the vines and vineyards, on the one hand, and the “high walls” of the bodegas, on the other.

The issue is summarized elegantly: “since no other wine exists that evolves as much during the ageing process as does a jerez wine, it is easy to see that the world of the bodegas has such a dominant role that it beomes very difficult to see beyond its walls”.

It is clear that, for Don Luis, it would be a mistake to focus exclusively on the bodegas. “The reality of Jerez includes a patrimony that goes beyond the bodegas and as long as three thousand years ago captivated the visiting phoenicians: the vineyards, and specifically the pagos of Albariza”. As he put it “one cannot understand the concept of a wine without its vine” a reality which has been “relegated in the last four decades and which must be recovered”.

As examples of the characteristics of the vine and the fruit being given less importance in recent times Don Luis talked about processes that have lead to a “greater standardization” of wines. Specifically mentioned are the belief that finos de jerez have lost their distinctive characteristics and become more similar to the traditional style of manzanillas (the brilliant verb “amanzanillamiento”) or the way that clarification and stabilization of wines had, until the recent popularity of en rama bottlings, lead to wines that were both more expensive to make and, ironically, less distinctive and perceived to be of lower quality.

For Don Luis, giving greater importance to the vines and vineyards of Jerez would give the wines “characteristics that in today’s world would add great value”, making reference to “winegrowing areas that not only value the character of the vines of the pago but also the even more specific qualities of the precise vineyard” and urging the sector to consider “a classification that differentiates, without creating a manichean black and white, so that the winemaker can characterize his wine harmonizing terroir and crianza”.

He also went on to add that “Jerez today has a strategic opportunity to start such a remodelling. We are talking about a denominación de origen whose current vineyards are more than 7.000 hectares, a surface area that permits it to aspire to the very highest levels of qualiy. Its location makes possible a diversity and a singularity that is very attractive and would permit the recovery of some the varieties of Palomino lost during the 20th Century. This would lead to the production of wines with a real vocation to express terroir”. And returning to his key point, “giving importance to the vine in the wine of jerez, would mean giving that wine characteristics that in today’s world would add significantly to its value.”

The professor went on to make a number of other interesting points about the interplay between science and nature, viticulture and enology, and about the iconic, evocative power of wine in general and the wines of Jerez in particular. For those I can only refer you to the official press release (to which I cannot find a link) and other accounts like the one in Diario de Jerez linked above. But these thoughts on terroir and the characteristics that terroir can imprint on the wines strike me as so important that I wanted to share them.

And although Don Luis appears to have stuck to his resolution to look to the future, the dichotomy that he rightly points out between the vineyard and the bodega seems to me to be a subject that deserves some serious attention. There is no doubt about the miracles that can be achieved in the bodega, and the solera, but neither is there any doubt in my mind of the unique characteristics of wines from different vineyards, and for much of the time it seems that the two camps in Don Luis’ dichotomy are on opposite sides and pulling in different directions, a fight which given the relative size of the parties can only result in the dominance of the bodegas. However, and precisely because of that muscle it is those bodegas that stand most to gain, as this thoughtful conference elegantly points out, and if the renaissance of the region is to prove lasting and real then surely those bodegas will play a leading role.

Even if he were not the great authority on the wines of Jerez and Sanlucar that he undoubtedly is, I believe that the evidence of wine regions worldwide, in every style and tradition, proves Don Luis  correct in his analysis, and I fervently hope that the bodegas, who are more important than they perhaps realize, hear the call.