Month: May 2018

Atamán Vermouth

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In Jerez old is now the new new. Just missed out in the unveiling of this in Madrid this week. A newly relaunched vermouth under an old Barbadillo brand resurrected in 2017 after 40 odd years.

As I say, I missed the unveiling, and indeed I only made it to La Fisna before closing by the skin of my teeth and as a result have next to no actual information, other than that it is an old recipe with a manzanilla base and an amped up dosage of quinine.

The resulting potion is powerful stuff and not at all what springs to mind when someone says “vermouth”. The manzanilla base is dry as dry can be and there is no hint of sweetness. For me it is more reminiscent of an amaro, with burnt caramel bitterness, but saline. (You get the feeling that a martini made with this would be filthy rather than dirty.)

Serious, grown up, drinking.

La Fleur 2015 in Taberna Palo Cortado

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Bodegas Forlong are a bit of a dark horse – not much spoken of but quietly trotting along making lovely wines with subtly different but still imaginative approaches. As a result anyone wanting to know what can be done with palomino fino, in particular, could do worse than buying up their range.

This is one of the most recent additions to the stable and one of my favourites. In fairness this bottle had been opened a while but I wanted an esteemed visiting colleague to try it and Taberna Palo Cortado didn’t let me down.

Maybe because of that time open it seemed to me to have lost some of its aromatic delightfulness but the aromas of sweet apple pie were still there. I remember this being a little short in body but this time it seemed to have a bit more oomph, compact and saline.

Am convinced it will be terrific after a few months in the bottle (but in my house it wouldn’t have that luxury).

The wines of Emilio Hidalgo in Taberna Verdejo

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Absolutely top class dinner last night in Taberna Verdejo featuring a lot of laughter some first class cooking and above all three absolutely classic wines from Emilio Hidalgo.

First, with mussels and rubio (sea robin) in escabeche (and in fact even before the food arrived) we started with La Panesa, which is just a class fino. So much power and body, a really buttery mouthful and a no vibrato purity and solidity of flavours. These bottles were from 2016 and the almond and roast almond flavours just had that suggestion of bitterness before the long long finish.

Then another escabeche, this time a rabbit (another of Verdejo’s strengths, small game) and, having exhausted the supply of La Panesa we moved on to the Amontillado Fino Tresillo. And my goodness what an impact this wine makes – such sharpness and elegance, finer in feel than the fino and a touch of dry honey to the almond flavours – almost hazelnut-, all with that sizzling salinity, which comes across much more clearly in this finer profiled wine. Really lovely, really drinkable wine.

And then with the sweetbreads (oh, the sweetbreads) and rabo de toro (stewed bull’s tail) a glass (or two) of the Gobernador oloroso. Another beautifully made wine – packed with acidity and flavor but with excellent crispness and balance. In fact I was struck by the freshness of it – really clean lines.

All three wines were individually superb but also great company for the solid matter, but the less said about the Rives Special Gin from El Puerto that followed the better …

Manzanilla Entusiástica in Zalamero Taberna

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Just look at the colour of that manzanilla – en rama and a year or so in the bottle and it is a lovely dark straw colour. Rich and mulchy on the nose too and a nice sweet/savoury character to it on the palate: hints of juicy sweetness at the start, then zing and savory, bready flavours in the middle and a salty fresh finish.

This is a really interesting wine – the first ecological manzanilla and as such a brand new solera when the wines were first released in 2016. If I am reading the codes right this wine appears to have been bottled at the end of 2016 and it has really gained from that time in the bottle. Maybe lost some floral notes but has broadened out on the palate (almost like a palomino white wine) and all the better for it.

Nice one.

La Bota de Manzanilla Pasada 60 – Bota Punta

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Not much of this left now (they have half a glass here in Media Ración) and we will miss it once its gone. Every time I come back to it it seems chalkier, more savoury and more mineral – with a warming, mouth watering, salt and pepper finish.

Maybe it is the time in the bottle, the time the bottle has been open, or maybe just my imagination (or the alignment of the stars) but seems to have a shade less of the almost fruit-like toffee that I remember when it first came out. Looking back at old notes I definitely enjoyed it more last year and the year before.

Still a superstar wine though – drink up it you can find it.

Amontillado VORS Piñero

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The end of a very enjoyable lunch – one of those where you rock up to have lunch by yourself and end up finding a friend at the bar, then between laughter and more laughter you fill up with the superb cooking and wines that Taberna Verdejo are famous for.

By the end we felt like the occasion deserved a special wine and it occurred to us to go big with this.

And it is a special wine: a Sanlucar dagger of sawdust and salinity, a fierce wine with rough edges for all its age. Lovely light chestnut colour and a piercing, vinegary sawdust nose. Then that sharp salinity and a palate that matches the nose before a sandpaper dry finish.

A memorable end to a brilliant lunch.