The first of the epic series of finos released by the guys at Equipo Navazos, of which I have had the good fortune to taste several (including the Nº35, the Nº54 and, my favourite so far, the Nº 68). This was bottled way back in June 2006 and as you can see from the ficha even back then the makers were thinking in terms of its evolution in the bottle.

As you can see, ten years later it is no longer gold with a greenish hue: a lovely rich amber instead. The nose is all hay bales and crusty bread – a real rustic bakery nose -, it has a nice profile of zingy/salinity and mouth watering finish and the flavours in between are savoury and rich in umami. A really class fino, even ten years later.

And yet there is a but here, because I can’t help comparing this refined, elegant old wine with the swashbuckling, punchy Nº68 that I enjoyed a few weeks ago. I may be in the minority, but not for the first time I find this glory (and there is no doubt it is delicious wine) to be a little faded. (Of course it may be confirmation bias: the excuse I am looking for to stop worrying about cellaring and drink up these cracking wines as soon as I can.)

I look forward to the debate on that. In the meantime, I want to take a moment to show my appreciation to Fernando at Cuenllas, who made it possible for me to try this and some other special wines during what was an absolutely phenomenal meal yesterday. Absolutely top drawer.