Month: Nov 2018

Manzanilla de Añada 2012 – 4/11

~ sharquillo ~ Leave a comment

It is amazing to think how the world has changed in only a few years. In 2012 when the Blanco brothers and Ramiro Ibañez decided to put aside 11 botas of palomino after a bumper harvest at Callejuela there were very few “añada” wines knocking around – at least of this kind – and very few vineyard specific wines too. In fact I can still remember the excitement of waiting for that first bota to be bottled.

Nowadays there are a few more añada wines, and little by little you see more mentions of vineyards on labels, to the point where this little series has to share the limelight.

But the beauty of these wines is that they are not just from a specific vintage and place: they are eleven botas from a vintage and place that emerge year by year and show perfectly what that time in the bota can do.

This, the 4th bota to be bottled, has had nearly six years of static ageing and is an absolute beauty of a manzanilla. A rich nose of haybales and a hint of old apples, a sharp saline start, raw almonds with a suggestion of fruity oxidation on the palate and then that fresh, mouth-watering finish.

An absolute gem and I wish I had more of it. Roll on number 5!

La Bota 34 down the years

~ sharquillo ~ 3 Comments

Ok only the last three years, but still …

After writing a post yesterday about this gem of a wine by Equipo Navazos I was intrigued to see if the changes I imagined I remembered had any basis in fact. Now I can only read the notes, and it all sounds as I remembered it, but I realized there was one quality that was there before my very eyes: the colour.

And hey presto, due to the miracle of photography you have a collage of images from this very blog from August 2015 (at the top) to November 2018 (at the bottom) and I reckon the evidence is in my favour on this one – a definite yellowing/browning going on over time.

So you never know, there is a chance I am not imagining the other stuff. Comforting thought!

La Bota 34 de Palo Cortado – “Pata de Gallina”

~ sharquillo ~ 1 Comment

A touch of controversy these days if you dare to accuse anyone of “bota hunting” but if wines like this are the result you won’t find me questioning the process. In fact this wine is a great example of how the “bota hunters” do more than repackage the wine of others.

This is from the same solera that produces Lustau’s marvellous Pata de Gallina oloroso by almacenista Juan Garcia Jarana but while that wine is rich and juicy, fat on the palate (and one of the best value wines around) this has that potent flavour in a much finer, more elegant profile.

In fact it is an extraordinary wine. It was the wine that really made me sit up and take notice of the wines of Jerez back in the day and although it has changed over time (it was bottled back in February 2012) it is still quite superb.

While it used to be a vibrant red it is increasingly fading to amber brown. The nose is still a touch sweet with orange and ginger, but I feel has a little bit more bitter wood than I remember. On the palate it starts sharp and zingy, then aromatic and rich in flavour – again whereas I remember caramel this has a touch of bitter mahogany, black chocolate, and tobacco. And it lasts forever – lovely finish.

Beautiful wine. Congratulations to all concerned!