I have written before about these fascinating (and really rather good) sparkling palomino wines from Alba Viticultores and so, taking advantage of the more permissive domestic stance on the consumption of bubbles during the Christmas period I picked this up (and the information below) from Coalla Gourmet.

It is a sparkling rosé. The base wine (about 93% of the volume) is palomino fino from albariza vineyards in Sanlúcar (unusually for these guys they don’t specify the pago – they have vines both inland and in Miraflores so would be interesting to know). It was fermented and spent a few months in inox, then five months or so in demijons under flor before bottling for the second fermentation in August 2015 and disgorging in October 2016 with no filtering, clarifying  or addition of sulphur. The rosé is achieved by adding tintilla de rota – which makes up 7% of the volume -and although the wine is labelled “brut nature” I wonder if it might not be one of the sweeter versions.

The packaging is edgy – the crown cap as if it was yet to be disgorged – but this time the bottle is frosted rather than dark or clear (although to be fair I guess it is to show off the rosé). Not the most bubbly bubbles, but a nice fizz and a deep almost reddish pink colour. Natural wine nose of countryside, undergrowth and fruit, and even chocolatey aromas. On the palate again a nice fizz and effervescence and a rustic feel to it – lots of carbonic and those fruity undergrowth flavours. Serious aftertaste with a touch of diesel and, dare I say, palulu.

Not really my cup of tea to be quite honest: a bit too natural and rustic and lacking that liftoff and elegance of the pure palomino Brut Natures. Having said that, the group I opened it with liked it and it disappeared pretty quickly!