Author: sharquillo

Manzanilla pasada Mar7

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One of the things I love about Territorio Era is being surprised by wines I hadn’t come across elsewhere and here is another one. This is a manzanilla pasada by “Despacho de Vinos Mar 7” a project of a daughter of Pedro Romero, who has acquired wines from Delgado Zuleta for finishing in her own style (in what was the HQ of Pedro Romero).

The wines are fully en rama and unfiltered and this one is said to have had a total of around 8 years under flor.  As you can see the colour is relatively dark, a deep, rich yellow gold with maybe just the tiniest suggestion of green at the edges. While that might suggest age the nose suggested youth – a lot of green apple freshness and sweeter herbal tea to it, with just a hint or salty air in the background. On the palate too it seems to be at the lighter, fresher, green apple end of the scale, although nice and fine and with a nice salinity to keep it vertical.

Very nice, not over done, and very very easy to drink.

 

 

Fino el Pato Especial

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One for fans of Montilla Moriles here: the “Special Duck” from Bodegas Luque. As the label says, it is a fino en rama without clarification or filtration. (Since the explanation is redundant I assume they must be trying to make a point.)

The wine certainly comes across as rough and ready – incredibly pungent and meaty, with a big heavy texture and flavours like chewing a ham bone and a stick of bitter liquorice. There is salinity too but not a lot of zing or definition. To be honest not really my cup of tea but you can’t deny it has character.

La Malaje

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I finally made it la Malaje today for lunch and you have to wonder why it took me so long – absolutely top class. It is in a really nice spot at the bottom of Calle Relatores and has a nice airy feel to it, with a little Andalucian patio included (was a good day for it today, October notwithstanding).

These dudes are from the other place, Montilla Moriles, and so it was a good opportunity to try a few of the other kind of finos from a longish list by the glass. Also, there were no fewer than three Andalucian red wines, two varieties of bread, and two different salts (but just one superb olive oil).

More importantly, the food was cracking – navajas en escabeche, a herring and orange salad (no photo taken) that was brilliantly light and fresh, a really light, juicy tortilla, brilliant garbanzos, again with fish and a touch of citrus, and a cracking cheesecake (these are the names I have imaginatively given the dishes – you would be advised to consult the menu to see what they really are). To be honest I didn’t expect any less since the man in charge is Manu Urbano, formerly of Sacha, and the food here was definitely on that kind of level.

So no excuses from me for not making it before – just regrets, and a determination to be back again soon (for Sherry Week).

100 up

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The sun never sets on the undertheflor empire, and today the good folk of Malawi joined the party, becoming the 100th member of the United Nations to do so. Moni and zikomo Malawi! 

Fino La Barajuela 2013 again

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Have been writing a piece on what to look for on a sherry label, which is just another way of saying what to look for in a sherry bottle and apart from working up a thirst it dawned on me that what I am looking for is this. A vintage, terroir specific fino built to express both dimensions, and more importantly, a cracking wine.

I have written about it several times already – the first time I really tried it in June it was superb, so much so that I felt the need to taste it against a Chassagne Montrachet, and then in August I was lucky enough to take part in a fantastic tasting with the maker himself.

This time what strikes me is the potency of the fruit – a kind of super intense melon flavour, and how it complements the zingy salinity and crisp minerals to make a potent wine that is piercing, sleek and elegant at the same time.

Really top class.

 

 

 

 

Palo Cortado Cayetano del Pino – revisited 

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So here goes the last of this very nice little bottle of palo cortado first opened two weeks ago. 

Been a couple of days without sherry and the first thing I notice is the salinity and the sting of the alcohol and acidity on the lips and palate. Really a potent start and a saliver summoning, mouthwatering finish. In between I would put this at the gingery, bitter orange end of Jerez palo cortados – juicy but at the same time spicey, with a lot more than just caramel or hazelnut flavours. 

Packs a little punch, I can tell you. Lovely stuff. 

Amontillado Don Jose Maria

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The last of the wines I wanted to write about from a memorable dinner last week at Territorio ERA. 

This one is a decidedly strange fish – I would swear that it wasn’t that old, and if it didn’t say it on the bottle I would say it wasn’t an amontillado either. In fact I am pretty sure it had had a little sweet stuff added to it. (Not encouraging to be told that the  Jose Maria in question was Jose Maria Ruiz Mateos either – not exactly a heroic figure.)

On the other hand it isn’t bad – nice hazelnut nose and juicy hazelnut flavour on the palate. Not piercing or zingy but saline all the same, then for me a slightly ashy finish. Not unpleasant, just a little bit of a mishmash. 

The end of en rama

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This afternoon I deleted the en rama category off the blog. 

This is not a reflection on en rama wines. They are almost always more interesting than their filtered rivals and some are markedly better. Neither is it an objection to the concept: if you can save money on production  processes, make better wine and sell that wine for more money good luck to you. 

Rather, it had just got to the point that almost every wine on here was an en rama so as a category it became pointless – not discriminating enough and at the same time discriminating in the wrong way. While many many wines are “en rama” in the sense of being unfiltered or very lightly filtered many choose not to mention this. As a result the category ended up including all sorts of wines that for whatever reason made great marketing play of their unfiltered status and leaving out some other wines unfairly. 

But worry not – all the wines are still there in their respective categories. 

Bibo Madrid

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It really is a great time to be a sherry fan in Madrid. One of the latest big openings here was of Bibo Madrid, a new Madrid outpost of Dani Garcia’s Costa del Sol empire, and just behold the magnificent list of sherries that my good friend and colleague Luis has just sent me.

No fewer than 38 sherries –  four manzanillas, nine finos, eight amontillados, eleven olorosos and six palo cortados –  including a number of wines that are hard to get (the Amontillado Olvidado I have never tried).  More importantly, they are all available in bottle or glass, making it easy to try these unique wines and pair them with Bibo’s brilliant Andalucian cooking.

Bienvenido, Mr Garcia.

Oloroso Santa Petronila

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More snippets from a cracking dinner at Territorio ERA this week. We were given this blind and I must admit I thought it was a palo cortado. It is from Santa Petronila whose fino I tried a little while ago. 

As you can’t quite see it was a slightly yellowish brown in colour – clear but not fully crystalline. Has quite a spirity nose, with nuts and toffee laced with a bit of brandy, and then a nice bit of acidity first up on the palate. Not a big mouthful in terms of structure but a pleasant one with half toasted hazelnuts. All in all not your typical oloroso – comes across as a little lighter and finer than most.

Very nice though and one to look for for further study.