Author: sharquillo

Pedro Ximenez OVNI 2015

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The second of a pair of fascinating sobre tablas by Equipo Navazos (in association with Coalla Gourmet) which I had during a great night at Angelita Madrid the other night. The name is a play on the Spanish term for unidentified flying objects (objetos voladores no identificados) – although this one is a winelike object (objeto vinicola). 

The ficha is again great (as is the new website) and this has “a few months” of ageing – some in stainless steel and some in cement tanks under flor. The resulting juice is pale in colour and has a nose that promises sweet, ripe fruit. On the palate though it is dry and slightly heavy, fruit flavours with soft minerals. 

No doubt about it, a very interesting little wine. 

Palomino Fino OVNI 2015

~ sharquillo ~ 2 Comments


Another fascinating wine, this time by Equipo Navazos (in association with Coalla Gourmet) which I had during a great night at Angelita Madrid. The name is a play on the Spanish term for unidentified flying objects (objetos voladores no identificados) – although this one is a winelike object (objeto vinicola). 

The ficha is great (as is the new website) and as it points out, this is a “sobretabla”, with six months under flor – they mention “added” flor – in a vat.  The wine is very pale in colour and has the punchy, yeasty, cidery nose of a mosto. On the palate it is dry and refreshing, slightly mineral and quite punchy. 

Nice refreshing little wine.

Fino de Huelva Espinapura 

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Had this last night at Angelita and it wasn’t too bad. It is a palomino fino aged under flor but not a sherry. Rather it is from Condado de Huelva – outside el Marco (away to the North of Sanlucar and West of Seville – about an hour and a half from Jerez by car). 

According to the ficha this has had four years under flor in a solera. It has a nice almond vibe to it – quite pale in colour, nice nutty nose, good and smoothand not too saline. Very decent.

UBE 2014

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Rumour has it that there were a hundred fewer of these produced (out of not many to start with) so if you see one jump on it. (You never know, this could be the “Pingus” moment for this little gem of a wine.) I didn’t get my hands on Ube 2013 (not just once but twice in quick succession) until January this year but I have been waiting for this one ever since, picked it up last week and managed to wait nearly a full week before opening it.

It is by Ramiro Ibañez of Cota 45 and the full name is “Ube de uberrina” (uberrina meaning “utmost”), it is an unfortified white wine labelled “Palomino Centenario” (100 year old palomino) and its label references the kind of albariza soil involved (albariza de antehojuelas), the vineyard (a small finca called Las Vegas), and the cepage (100% palomino but 73% palomino fino, 16% palomino jerezano and 11% palomino peluson). It was fermented and aged for fourteen months in a manzanilla bota – without flor but with a little air – in the tiny microwinery on Bajo de Guia in Sanlucar.

The picture above doesn’t really show the wine off well – in the flesh and with more light it is a lively, crystalline gold with some green tinges, a very appetising sight indeed. The nose was very interesting – at the start it was a little timid and had a little reduction – something I found with the 2013 too-, so I would definitely recommend opening this 30 minutes or so before drinking. Once it got going it had a very interesting nose of  baked apples (one of the guys called toffee apples), chamomile and, as it opened up, more powerful herbal aromas, even savoury and meaty.

On the palate it has a chalky texture and some salinity – not the full zing of a manzanilla but a tingle, mouthwatering and warming on the tongue. In flavour terms it has a quiet, elegant entry but then it is a little flavour bomb. If sapid is the antithesis of insipid then this was sapid squared – in part due to its salinity, but also to the baked apple and then herbal flavours – a mix of chamomile, rosemary and oregano. Not the longest finish in the world but a nice defined, ball of flavour – I must admit I didn’t remember the 2013 being as flavourful.

This really is good – probably the best unfortified palomino I have had yet. I just wish he would make more of it (and I am not referring just to the 100 missing bottles).

 

 

Sacha 

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This last few days has been a trying period, stuck in Madrid while sherrylovers of every description have been tasting, drinking, and partying down in Jerez during Vinoble. But on the whole I can’t complain too much since some friends and I were able to get a cheeky table for seven at Sacha this Monday evening (might sound easy enough but the place was chock full to the rafters).

Sacha is very much the Chef’s choice of restauranteur in Madrid and once you have been it is easy to see why. Simple but perfectly executed preparations of first class produce and a series of super flavours. The shellfish we had on Monday had some of the lads wishing they were otters, and the good stuff kept coming: asparagus, mushrooms, ray, steak tartare, tuetano, spicey lamb, a yogurt dessert – and although it would be very hard to leave any of them out if I had to pick one it would be the “lazy tortilla” with truffle. Absolutely first class.

The service was excellent in trying circumstances (we tend to bring the chaos with us – tables full of wine glasses etc) Sacha was on hand to explain the dishes to us and his sense of humour added to the fun considerably. He comes across as a chap who knows a few things but is able to focus on the important ones, and a really good bloke to have around.

Of course it also helped that we were able to wash it all down with some equally excellent bottles, and while I completely failed to take a picture or even a note of the famously concise and precise winelist, I can tell you that they had some very interesting bottles indeed: some of those little ones with numbers on the labels by Equipo Navazos, a magnum of “Zerej”, and when we asked what to pair with an asparugus, the lovely manzanilla en rama by Blanca Reyes.  Take my word for it, you can go here safe in the knowledge that nice bottles of sherry are available.

 

 

Palo Cortado Reliquia 

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How does one write a tasting note about a wine like this? It is a massively old Palo Cortado by Barbadillo that after a 100 years or so of quiet excellence (the ficha has a nice potted history) was launched to superstardom (and correspondingly astronomic prices) by being awarded 100 points by the Wine Advocate. This one was purchased as a team effort and consumed during a cracking dinner last night.

The colour is paler than I expected – a honey gold as you can see – and it had a lot of sediment. The nose was terrific – a little bit of furniture polish then citric sweetness, toasted nuts, fresh sawdust and chamomile, some salty sea air.

Most importantly, for such an old, concentrated wine it was beautifully elegant and integrated and as a result highly drinkable. Very dry but not at all astringent, with salinity and acidity that warm the tongue without being harsh, and big umami flavours of nuts, toasted nuts and a trace of orange zest bitterness. No edges to it, very silky on the palate and an immensely long, mouth watering finish. 

A beautiful highly drinkable old wine.

Manzanilla en rama Blanca Reyes

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Not seen this in a little while and it is much missed – a lovely yeasty manzanilla. Big acetaldehide profile making it fragrant and aromatic- lots of chamomile and nuts – and a bready, umami solidity to it on the palate, more of a buzz than a zing. 

It was absolutely brilliant with this asparagus salad in Sacha last night: not just any asparagus – a rare breed of some kind with a very celery like flavour – very simply prepared and absolutely delicious. 

Samaruco 2013

~ sharquillo ~ 1 Comment

The second of three red wines made by Bodegas Luis Perez and big brother of the Garum. I really enjoyed the Garum 2014 this week and this is just as good or even better.

Whereas the Garum is Merlot, Syrah and Petit Verdot from various pagos, and with 12 months in american and french oak, this is just 50% Syrah and 50% Petit Verdot, from a single pago (Corchuelo, which according to this plan is just before Añina as you head out of Jerez – based on the label we are looking at the Vistahermosa vineyard), and with 16 months in new french oak.

My memory may be failing me but this seems very similar in colour to the Garum – the bodega describes it as black cherry which works for me. Of the two this is maybe a touch clearer. The nose has dark fruit and a slight herbal character – maybe not as much as the Garum but it is there – then on the palate it again has that dark fruit with salinity, then some chocolate, then soft tannins that dry but don’t bite, then maybe a little bit of bitterness and again a saline, mouthwatering finish.

Very nice, silky smooth stuff.

 

 

Vinoble 2016

~ sharquillo

Very sad to be missing out on Vinoble 2016, the International Exhibition of “Noble Wines” (which they define as fortified, dessert and natural sweet wines) organized every two years in Jerez. (I must say I find the name a little ironic given the relatively minor importance the vines are generally given in the elaboration of these wines, but maybe it is a good omen for the future.) According to the website the event will include 900 wines from all around the world, including Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain (of course) Switzerland, and Uruguay.

It must be said the board above (photo borrowed from the TL of @VinosSanlucar – the Bodegas Artesanas de Sanlucar de Barrameda) looks a bit more Iberian dominated. I count 34 exhibitors of which 26 are fundamentally dedicated to spanish wines and institutions, 4 to portuguese (Taylors, Poças, O Lusitano, and Terras do Portugal), one is a distributor of wines from all over (Vinos Perea) and there are three from the “ROW” (Sweetbordeaux (France), VS AY SA (Romania), and Quady (USA)). There are, as you would expect, plenty of the wines of Jerez, Sanlucar, el Puerto de Santa Maria, Chiclana, and Montilla Moriles in attendance.

It is a trade gathering and the emphasis is on international buyers and professional events – there are some very high quality tastings arranged during the course of the Exhibition itself. And that is just the main program. As so often with these International Exhibitions there is also a lot going on around the “fringe” – a lot of cracking parties, bodega visits, dinners, lunches and all sorts have been organized.

And the truth is I am sad not to be down there. I have a love-hate relationship with these big gatherings. They are really no way to get to know a wine in my view.  Neither am I from the trade. Nevertheless I had intended to go and had my work not intervened would have done. It would have been a fantastic opportunity to meet some of the winemakers I admire, see some friends again and celebrate their successes, find out what is new – to be quite honest I am intrigued by the wines from the Canary Islands and Valencia that will be on show, not to mention the “internationals”- and just generally see what is happening.

So from stuck in Madrid, with a heavy heart, I wish all of those down in Jerez a fantastic few days. I sincerely hope you sell the traditional wines of Southern Spain to buyers around the world and I look forward to seeing my twitter timeline fill with photos of glasses clinking, ice buckets, rare bottles, suelfies, and all the rest. Cheers!