Month: Jun 2016

Manzanilla Deliciosa en Rama, Spring 2016

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This is the en rama version of an old favourite and one that I have pursued for over a year – just never seemed to coincide with it until by chance I spotted it on the Coalla Gourmet tweet stream last week.

It is a lovely little bottle of wine, yeasty bakery on the nose, with citrus and sea air in the background. On the palate it is salty citrus fruit – quiet at first then intense and zingy – then salt and pepper that lasts a long time, mouth watering all the while. Really good stuff. Drinking it with salty pecorino cheese the fruitiness comes out.

A class wine full of flavour.

 

Fino Capataz Solera de la Casa 

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Once again at the bar of Angelita and these guys never fail with their wines by the glass. It really is fun coming here.

This is a fino by Alvear, in Montilla Moriles, that is 100% pedro ximenez and has had a long long time under flor – if the original Capataz had over 6 years this has had at least a couple more. (I was told once but I had already had a few at the time.) I am predisposed to like this wine since I learned I shared a surname with the great great grandmother of the current owners, but even without that whiff of nepotism it is a cracker.

The colour is not quite as dark as the picture suggests – it is a straw-coloured gold with a suggestion of black to it. On the nose it is punchy, nutty with hay bales and sweet and herbal tea touches – very nice nose with plenty in it. On the palate it is an intense old liquid: very saline and a real burn on the edges of the tongue, full bodied and oily, and with bitter almond intensity. Long, long salty and bitter finish to it.

Intense but balanced and with plenty in it – a really top class fino worthy of Great Great Grandma Ward.

(And followed with a 2002 late harvest Trimbach – absolutely brilliant contrast, see comment above re coming here.)

Amontillado Gutierrez Colosia Solera Familiar 

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Gutierrez Colosia is a former almacenista and now producer from el Puerto de Santa Maria that has released some really nice wines – the fino en rama really stands out (one of the first really good Puerto finos that I had) but down there in March their standard amontillado was the best of a strong field at dinner one night (seeing off Equipo Navazos and Emilio Hidalgo amongst others). So good, in fact, that one of the friends I was at dinner with that night hunted this down and got me a bottle.

This is the kind of wine you treat with respect so I have endeavoured to do a bit of research and, although this wine does not appear on the website, the bodega have been very quick to answer emails and generous with details. The Gutiérrez Colosía family describe themselves as heirs to the long tradition of “criadores de vinos”. In the past all the production was destined for the big houses with exporting operations. This particular amontillado comes from the soleras that over 50 years ago used to supply Williams and Humbert but when Williams changed hands the wine stopped being sold because at that time nobody else was willing to pay what it was worth (with the exception of a small amount that was bottled for the “almacenistas” collection of Lustau under the name Mª Loreto Colosía. The botas of this wine are located in a corner of the bodega blessed with “special” climatic conditions and only small quantities are bottled each year. In total it is estimated to have an average age of above 60 years.

The wine itself is not quite crystal clear – even a little turbid – but is a lovely deep chestnut colour. The nose has that solvent like, ethereal volatile start, but is full of hazelnuts, toasted almond and burnt butter.  On the palate it has a nice bite of alcohol and zingy acidity, and is refined, drying and fresh but tasty and salty. Not as intense as I expected given its age but very pleasant wood, nut and even tobacco flavours and a long, dry finish that is not astringent.

A rare old wine with the woody character to prove it.

Vintages past, present, and future

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My latest post for the sherry.wine site went up this week and, having eliminated the typos, it is my pleasure to share the link here.

This is one of my obsessions – the more I drink and read about these wines the more I am convinced of the value of this kind of differentiation (and if you don’t believe me just see my posts from September and February, amongst others). More importantly, it is apparently a historic reality – here the experts are the so called “Sobrinos de Haurie“, who are working on an exciting new history of the vintage wines of the region.

The making of these vintage wines is, however, more limiting than I had previously thought. I had the great fortune recently to attend a wine tasting of some really spectacular vintage Montilla Moriles wines in Taberna Palo Cortado and one of the issues that came up that night was that the Montilla Moriles wines had been “moved”, i.e., the barrels had been refreshed from other barrels of the same vintage. This is apparently something I understand would not be permitted in a “vintage” sherry, where a seal is attached to the barrels, and only broken on bottling (or something along those lines). In fact, the “movement” caused some consternation among those present.

All I can say is that the results were first class, and on discussing it with Antonio Barbadillo (whose Sacristia AB series is synonymous with some little gems) he also appeared to be convinced of the need to “move” wines for a number of reasons. Of course it was a tiny sample of 60 year old wines and we only tasted one side of the argument, but it struck me as an interesting issue that might usefully be reconsidered.

For now, though, I repeat my promise of February: make me a vintage sherry and trust me, I will buy it!

 

 

Ancestral Alegrías del Carrascal 2015

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This wine got “left behind” at our recent tasting of the wines of Alba Viticultores in La Buena Vida and lived to see another day – or specifically a night in Sacha. It didn’t see much of it though – it was gone so quick I didn’t even get a picture of the liquid itself (and although it now strikes me as unappetising, the above picture shows just how natural these wines are – boy was that last gulp a tasty one!).

It is an ancestral method wine from the Las Alegrías vineyard (Pago Carrascal de Sanlucar) fermented in a 1,000 litre tank for two weeks before bottling with some residual yeasts and sugars. They disgorge these by hand to order – so this one has around 8 months on the rack before disgorging.

This was a more serious proposition than the other ancestral that we tried the first time around, with less residual sweetness and more marked aromatics and flavours. Really noticeable carbonic and a metallic nose to it at first, but then creamy, herbal and grassy aromas came through, and although it didn’t have big acidity it had a nice saline bite and a bitter herb finish giving it a nice structured trip across the tastebuds. Another fascinating wine alright.

Tintilla 2013, Bodegas Luis Perez 

~ sharquillo ~ 4 Comments

A 100% Tintilla de Rota dry red wine by Bodegas Luis Perez (and the big brother of the Garum and Samaruco, both of which I also enjoyed).

Tintilla is one of the traditional grapes from the region that until recently had all but disappeared but is now making a strong comeback. It is said to be an Andalucian cousin of Graciano, but while I am not that familiar with Graciano whenever I have come across Tintilla in dry wines it has reminded me of shiraz/syrah (indeed once I tried an unoaked Tintilla blind and thought it was a shiraz).

This is from vines planted on one of the great pagos of Jerez, Balbaina, and specifically from a vineyard named Calderin del Obispo (one of the two “Calderin” on this plan I guess) and has had 16 months in oak.

The resulting wine is a refined, elegant but tasty animal. It has the mineral quality – salinity even – of the other wines, but also beefy, peppery aromas (in the interest of full disclosure I was roasting a joint of beef as we drank this, so my mind may have one tracked a little). On the palate if has very refined blackberry fruit – maybe just a hint of bitterness – and again that salt and pepper and meatiness on the palate, a nice texture with a nice touch of acidity and a lovely fresh finish.

Like this very much – and it was brilliant with that beef too.

Manzanilla Sacristia AB, 1a saca de 2015

~ sharquillo ~ 1 Comment


A fella thought he had picked up the latest release – the 1a saca 2016 – but failed to read the smallprint and here we are with an old favourite.

In my defense, having tried the 2016 recently I knew immediately that this wasn’t it. This one is tasty though: it has opened up a little and I am enjoying it a lot more than I remember – there are some hay bales in the nose, the yeast is seeming more citrus and the vegetable flavours are seeming fruitier, with that zingy salinity in the background and a long, long finish. (A day later it is really singing in fact – lovely fruitful character to it.)

Really good, even if it wasn’t the wine I thought I was buying.

Pedro Ximenez OVNI 2015

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The second of a pair of fascinating sobre tablas by Equipo Navazos (in association with Coalla Gourmet) which I had during a great night at Angelita Madrid the other night. The name is a play on the Spanish term for unidentified flying objects (objetos voladores no identificados) – although this one is a winelike object (objeto vinicola). 

The ficha is again great (as is the new website) and this has “a few months” of ageing – some in stainless steel and some in cement tanks under flor. The resulting juice is pale in colour and has a nose that promises sweet, ripe fruit. On the palate though it is dry and slightly heavy, fruit flavours with soft minerals. 

No doubt about it, a very interesting little wine. 

Palomino Fino OVNI 2015

~ sharquillo ~ 2 Comments


Another fascinating wine, this time by Equipo Navazos (in association with Coalla Gourmet) which I had during a great night at Angelita Madrid. The name is a play on the Spanish term for unidentified flying objects (objetos voladores no identificados) – although this one is a winelike object (objeto vinicola). 

The ficha is great (as is the new website) and as it points out, this is a “sobretabla”, with six months under flor – they mention “added” flor – in a vat.  The wine is very pale in colour and has the punchy, yeasty, cidery nose of a mosto. On the palate it is dry and refreshing, slightly mineral and quite punchy. 

Nice refreshing little wine.

Fino de Huelva Espinapura 

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Had this last night at Angelita and it wasn’t too bad. It is a palomino fino aged under flor but not a sherry. Rather it is from Condado de Huelva – outside el Marco (away to the North of Sanlucar and West of Seville – about an hour and a half from Jerez by car). 

According to the ficha this has had four years under flor in a solera. It has a nice almond vibe to it – quite pale in colour, nice nutty nose, good and smoothand not too saline. Very decent.