Here we have the latest new kid on the block, a wine I picked up from Enoteca Barolo and about which I have seen a lot of on twitter and the like lately.

It is from Lebrija, a town to the North of Jerez on the banks of the Guadalquivir and in Seville province, by Bodegas Gonzalez Palacio – a bodega founded and has a pretty good ficha  and a pretty good website with descriptions of the vineyard – Viña Abuelo Curro and the Lagar as well as the Bodegas – gives you the sense that they fall into the “winemaking” category.   As does this wine – it is an unfortified 100% palomino aged under flor in bota for 12 months (a 2013 so it has had a bit of time in the bottle too). So old school it is new school – fans of the history of the region will know that this sort of thing  was extremely popular in the 17th and 18th Centuries before the soleras came along (and in case you missed it it also says so on the back label).

It is nice colour – a slightly dark gold/straw with touches of green, and has the pungent aroma of a mosto. Smells like it is going to be full of fruit – baked, cidery apples and maybe just a touch bready. Then on the palate it has that little bit of biologically aged class – fresh and saline to balance the fruit. On the website they say pineapple and I would agree (not a ripe, sugary one, a slightly tough one), with a bit of bitterness and a fresh finish.

Another promising edition to a burgeoning new category of wines that some hope will be the new “entry level” for the wines of the region. Interesting stuff.