Author: sharquillo

Socaire 2015

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This year’s release of the premier white wine of the Cote de Chiclana emerged in the spring but has somehow evaded the blog up til now. 100% palomino from Finca Matalian, famed for its high altitude, high calcium and high winds so near to the sea at the Southernmost limit of the Marco del Jerez. 

It is made by Primitivo Collantes, probably the most unsung and under-rated of the guys making wines down there (although he has a growing following in Madrid after some cracking tastings) and is the second vintage of a wine that was a sensation when it came out. 

By comparison to last year’s harvest this one seems (from memory) a quieter soul. It is a lovely watered down gold in colour and has a very fresh nose but instead of the overripe fruit I remember it is more herbal, green leaves over almonds. More concentrated fruit and herb on the palate and still has a nice bite of minerals, but a quieter, less punchy wine than last years. I guess this has been made in the same way so the variation must be down to the conditions in growing season down there. Yet again, a demonstration of the power of vintages. 

In any event it is absolutely killing it with this tomato salad. 

Another tale of two sacas 

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Having opened one of my slowly dwindling stash of La Bota 34 it suddenly occurred to me that I had an opportunity to try two like minded wines together – the Bota de Palo Cortado Nº34 and the Bota de Palo Cortado Nº72, both of which were drawn from the six botas selected from the Oloroso Pata de Gallina Juan Garcia Jarana but some five years apart. (I like to think it is the sort of altruistic self sacrifice for which posterity will remember me: bravely and without heed for the consequences drinking two top class sherries at a time.)

The first difference is obvious even to the relatively untrained eye: the bottle of the 72 seems to have shrunk in the wash. (To be fair, though, it is just as well since the price increase more than compensates.) The newer label is also a bit more punchy – very smart.

Both wines are really terrific. Of course they had a very similar profile, aromas and flavours, and both are a testament to superb wine making, as elegant as they are sensational, but here what really interested me were the slight differences between them. As you can see above, there was really no difference in colour (ok the photo isn’t great in that regard) and despite sniffing until my eyes crossed I don’t think I could tell them apart on the nose. On the palate, however, there is a tangible additional potency to the new release – a bit more zest and intensity, a bit more solid. (It does cross my mind that the packaging – smaller bottle, solid color label – almost prepares you for more concentration, but even so I am convinced it is there.)

Really interesting to see what five years in the cask can do to a wine – and to get a feel for the effect of that additional concentration. In this case I reckon I just about prefer the Number 34 – maybe it is sentimental on my part, but it just seems to have an elegance to it that its younger, slightly brasher sibling doesn’t.

 

La Bota de Palo Cortado 34 

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One of my very favourite wines. In part for sentimental reasons – I can still remember the day I came across it for the first time and had my eyes opened for me. But also because objectively it is right up there in terms of sensations but still balanced, silky fine and elegant. 

Whatever the rights or wrongs of the way the term palo cortado is used these days, this for me will always be the definitive modern version. A superb wine. 

Oloroso Barajuela 2013

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Bottles of this are about as easy to get hold of as unicorns with wings so the fact that you can try a glass of this at Territorio Era (but hurry, this was his last bottle) is remarkable even by their standards.

I am unable to write objectively about this wine (or a few others on this blog if I am honest). First, there is a special pleasure in drinking a wine that is extremely scarce, a frisson proportional to the envy you know will be provoked by your post. Second, it is a great pleasure to taste wines that accord so exactly with your own views on vintage, terroir and wine making. (Third, the fact that it is made by such a good bloke is very hard to ignore, even if he is taller than is strictly polite.) 

On the other hand, the expectation and hype that has been generated – most recently a 19/20 from elmundovino – would be almost impossible for any wine to live with. Not to mention the buildup – despite the occasional sighting in the last 18 months its official release has been delayed and delayed due to wrangling about whether it can be called an oloroso. 

And in defense of the DO you can see why – the oxidation, the barrel and the concentration haven’t taken over here as they have in the olorosos you may be accustomed to. Rather, the dominant characteristic of the wine is still its fruit, with a nice depth of minerals and a richness from those four years of oxidation.

The result is by far the finest white wine I have had from Jerez. It lacks the sizzling profile of its younger brother, the fino, and struck me as less potent than I remembered – slightly closed on the nose and not as much power in the middle – but what it might have lacked in power it made up in character and elegance. Given time, both the nose and the palate had a delicious richness of nuts and dried fruits, almond tarts and the like, all in a nice profile with a very long middle and finish. 

A really outstanding wine. I would drink gallons if there were any available! 

Fino en rama Camborio

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Circumstances, never to be trusted at the best of times, have been conspiring against the author somewhat this week and it was with a black mood and dark thoughts that I dragged my feet down to Territorio Era today. 

In keeping with the mindset this is one of your more serious finos – a magnificent old wine – and this new release en rama and in magnum is absolutely magnificent. 

The colour is a rich dark straw – definitely a half shade darker than the classic Camborio. On nose it has a first flush of yeasty sea air but underneath a big dose of over roasted almond. Then on the palate it is searingly zingy – a really sensational salinity – followed by that intense but subtle savoury almond flavour, tailing off to a long, hot, salt and pepper finish. 

Absolutley magnificent – I am really struggling to stay in a bad mood. 

Elmundovino tastes the new Andalucia 

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After a beery summer holiday a fella is out of touch and out of rhythmn in wine terms and I feel like I am struggling to catch up with the ever-accelerating arms race taking place down in Andalucia.

Not so the guys at elmundovino. They are still up with the pace as their latest tasting shows. It includes the latest releases from the Barajuela project (including the long awaited and much coveted Barajuela Oloroso), the Mayeteria Sanluqueña and Equipo Navazos, the Viñas de Callejuela, Nude Tintilla and Pastora, the spanking new “Tres Miradas” project by Alvear, and some new wines from Barbadillo that I confess I hadn’t even heard of (the “Arbolledilla”).

I clearly have some significant ground to make up, and this is only part I. (And some drinking to do looking at those scores.)

Be careful what you wish for 

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Having spent my lunchtime perusing the shelves of a few local wine retailing establishments there is good and bad news. On the one hand, if the prices are anything to go by things are looking up for the wines of Jerez, Sanlucar, Montilla Moriles and elsewhere in Andalucia. On the other hand, I can probably no longer afford to blog as often as before. (I will let you decide which of the two is the good news.)

Don PX Convento Selección 1946

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This was one of three absolute showstopper wines that I had at the end of an epic evening at Corral de la Moreria recently – and while I am lucky enough to have had the Privilegio and the Toneles before, this was my first crack at this so I took special notice.

Pure pedro ximenez harvested in 1946 and in bota until it was bottled in 2011, this wine gained great fame when it was granted 100 points a couple of years ago, so when I saw the date on the bottle my curiosity was piqued to say the least.

I wasn’t in a position to examine the colour very closely – in the dark of the theatre it looked pretty black and dirtied up the sides of the glass but couldn’t tell you much more. It didn’t seem sweet or rich in nose or on the palate. In fact on the palate there was raisin sweetness but also everything from pencil lead to tangy citrus, plenty of liquorice bitterness and even peppery herbs, and the overall effect was quite a rollercoaster.

A serious, complex old wine. Amazing stuff.

The River Oyster Bar, Miami 

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After a couple of weeks travelling around the United States arriving in Miami almost seemed like a homecoming – Spanish being spoken all around and cafe con leche available. And after a few weeks of precious little to write about in the sherry stakes on my last night in the United States I happened across a really nice little list with only five sherries (ok, four sherries and one Montilla Moriles) it is true, but five nice wines and one in particular – the Hidalgo “export” fino – that I could not resist. It really hit the spot – and even came with a couple of little chicharones. 

It was just one highlight of an excellent wine list in fact, with wines from all over the world thoughtfully artanged by style. I took advantage and followed up with an excellent bottle of California bubbles – a 2014 Schramsberg blanc de blancs, which in turn helped wash down some brilliant local snapper and grouper. The service too was top class – unflappable and friendly in the face of a severe test – and I am only sorry I couldn’t stop longer and explore the list more. 

Most enjoyable and a nice little surprise at the end of a fun trip. If you are in Miami look out the River Oyster Bar – a cracking spot. 

Oloroso Fernandez Gao 

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Another wine by the glass in Territorio Era and one that I have not seen before. Some cursory research on their web reveals that it is an old name (as you might have guessed from the subtle reference to the 18th Century on the label) that has been resurrected under new ownership. 

What isn’t all that clear is where the wine has come from. The web talks about recovering old cellars but there isn’t much detail of the origin of the wine itself. I am assuming it can’t all be from the old days – would make it very old indeed. 

In fact therw was some talk of the wine being forty years old with ten years in “estatico”, but it certainly doesn’t have any of the concentration of volatile acidity that that would imply. I would have guessed 18-20 years and according to the website I would have been right – 20 years on average. 

Not that there is anything wrong with that – the dinosaurs are fun but can be hard work. This has a lovely clear darkish walnut colour, has a nutty aroma and is nice and balanced, lively acidity and intense nutty flavour, quite alcoholic and potent but very drinkable. I started it with savoury but it almost paired better with sweet, which for me is a good sign in an oloroso.  

Another new old name and one to watch.