Author: sharquillo

El Cerro oloroso

~ sharquillo ~ 5 Comments


Love this – an oloroso by Callejuela that is deep and rich but light and alive.

I do like the clear bottles and the way they let you see the colours of these wines. Having said that, in the bottle the wine is a rosy Horsechestnut brown although it seems a shade more yellow-brown in the glass. It has a big nose as you would expect (oloroso literally means “odourous”) with that “here comes sweetness” aroma of caramel and burnt cake.

On the palate it is zingy and acidic, really acidic, on the tongue first up but then it is fruity on the tongue, raisins and burnt but not bitter caramel – it is dry but with sweet leanings and it isn’t dusty or astringent. The texture is full bodied – not oily or syrupy but seems dense- frankly I think the texture suits the powerful flavours of the wine.  A long, long burn on the tongue, let alone the caramel flavours it leaves you with.

Really excellent.

The flock groweth 

~ sharquillo ~ Leave a comment


Been anxiously hunting for a while and finally got myself a couple of bottles of the Otoño 2015 in Enoteca Barolo, and, due to their small size, thought I could squeeze them in despite the moratorium imposed (by, ahem, mutual agreement) by the conjugal authorities.

The only criticism is that the label appears to have some kind of rodent on it rather than the usual feathered friend. All things bright and beautiful I suppose …

Fino Tradicion may 2015 

~ sharquillo ~ 4 Comments


This is a sensational wine, really good and seems like it is better every time I try it. Admittedly today a fella has had a very good lunch already and is in one of his happy places but even so.

The brown of gold colour, big yeasty nose, oily mouthfeel and intense salty olive flavours – almost a prototype of the kind of wine I love. I would maybe ask for just a bit more nuts but hey.

Fernando de Castilla Antique Palo Cortado

~ sharquillo ~ 1 Comment

  
This was put in front of me today at lunch and I was challenged to identify it. 

It was a little bit cold but you can see it is a beautiful colour. It was restrained on the nose – orange and walnuts – but also yeasty, definite hay bales, which made me think of an amontillado. 

On the palate too it was elegant – a bit of sweet spice first up, nicely integrated salinity and not too astringent or woody – if anything a nice fruity finish. Indeed it was mellow and elegant all through, which again made me wrongly think of amontillado. 

In summary, I got it wrong and failed to identify it – my credibility now in shreds. In my defense, it was cold and I had a cold. Looking back, however, I kind of judged it on what it was not – thought there was not enough zing, astringency and structure for it to be a palo – rather than looking for the bready, dry indicators of an amontillado. 

Was very nice though. 

Apostoles palo cortado muy viejo 

~ sharquillo ~ 1 Comment

I tasted this in last week’s sherryTT and wanted to give it another go in more neutral territory. On that occasion I tasted this slightly sweet wine (it has about 13% old pedro ximenez mixed with an old palo cortado) against four deadly dry palo cortados and I wondered if my appreciation was skewed by the comparison. Judging by this second, lab conditions attempt, I don’t think so: this still seems pretty epic.

It really does have the baked nutty fruitiness of a christmas cake (not including marzipan and icing, evidently) and once the initial acidity passes it is tremendously rich with lots of flavours – coffee, walnuts, raisins, cedar and even liquorice. The sweetness is also well balanced with the concentration and bitterness of the rest of the wine – really sweet and sticky but also bitter and intense.

Really excellent stuff, no doubt. Maybe I slightly prefer the Noe overall but this is very good.

Solear en rama – Saca de Primavera 2015

~ sharquillo ~ 2 Comments

  
Love this – it is excellent and might be my favourite one of these yet. 

I love the colour – straw with a sun tan. The nose too – hay bales, bread and unsalted nuts.

On the palate it is voluminous – oily even – and salty. It is really salty, then powerfully yeasty and flavourful, very very long and fading to a salty, nutty, bready flavour. 

A real gem – wish I had a magnum of this.

Amontillado La Casilla

~ sharquillo ~ 3 Comments

After a couple of days without sherry it is a pleasure to tuck into this, a small production wine from La Callejuela (obtained from the Cuatrogatos wine club).

It is an orange-brown colour and has a very powerful nose of  alcoholic caramel and vanilla and maybe some marmalade, baked citrus in the background.

On the palate there is pronounced salinity, real power and zing. For such a lightly coloured wine there is more astringency than expected too, then woodiness to it, including in the long finish – maybe notes of vanilla caramel but very very dry – almost dusty dry. Maybe a little on the woody/dusty side for my taste if anything.

Big nose, concentration and dryness – a classy, grown up amontillado.

Noe Pedro Ximenez Muy Viejo

~ sharquillo ~ 1 Comment

I have now tried all of these very impressive VORS bottlings by Gonzalez Byass in the last couple of weeks (after the Del Duque, the Matusalem, and the Apostoles (as part of the sherryTT) and this is probably my favourite. As its name indicates, it is a very old px – 30 years according to the label – from Jerez and it really is extraordinary.

A deep black brown colour, even in strong winter sunshine and it dirties up the glass as you swirl it around. It just has a look of black treacle about it. On the nose too it has a strong black treacle vibe – there are grapes and sugary buns but also a suggestion of burnt sugar bitterness and sweet cedar wood.

On the palate it has a big, syrupy, treacly feel and although it must have a huge amount of sugar in it but it doesn’t half carry itself lightly. There are enough bittersweet flavours (dark woody herb spices, coffee, black chocolate and black treacle) to balance the sweetness and it is just beautifully integrated.

A really sensational wine – I am going to need a much bigger bottle of this.

Del Duque Amontillado Muy Viejo

~ sharquillo ~ 1 Comment


The second of my mini bottles of these old old Gonzalez Byass gems.

According to the GB website this solera dates from 1835 and the wine has spent an average of more than 30 years in oak butts (I assume this means 30 years of traditional ageing, in addition to whatever time spent under flor at the outset, but it is not 100% clear). Unlike the other wines in this rare old solera range, this is 100% palomino with no Pedro Ximenez whatsoever.

It is a deep but slightly yellow brown in colour – not as much red as in the wines of the last few evenings. For its age it has a relatively youthful (by which I mean not dusty or leathery) aroma, it is really nutty and, well, very powerful.

On the palate it is concentrated – a really powerful salty zing to it over the tongue – and incredibly dry. It has a lack of astringency compared to a really old oloroso or palo cortado, a characteristic that I love about amontillados, but the flavours are dry and woody – roasted and burnt nuts rather than toffee.

Another really serious wine. Excellent.

#sherryTT: palo cortados – my tweets

~ sharquillo ~ 5 Comments

sherryTT

I retrieved these tweets from last night’s stream in order to write up my notes but to be honest I rather like them so here you have them. (You can see that on more than one occasion I was responding to my co-tweeters – sorry but I just didn’t have time to dig out all the tweets but I reckon they are still findable on twitter with the hashtag #sherryTT. There are also a lot of cracking comments from Jerez.)

As you may recall from yesterday’s post, the wines in question were: Viejo CP by Valdespino, Antique palo cortado by Rey Fernando de Castilla, VORS Palo Cortado by Tradicion, Privilegio 1860 by Emilio Hidalgo and Apostoles by Gonzalez Byass. It was a cracking tasting and we seemed to rattle through them – here were my thoughts as we went.

#viejoCP

  • nice and elegant, bit quiet before the swirl, a sweet nose with buttery notes
  • maybe a bit of polish but I find the nose very balanced – not too sweet or salty
  • youthful on the palate – not at all astringent, nicely integrated salinity, even a bit of yeasty fruit
  • burnt caramel flavours that cling on for ages – stays in good shape too

#antique

  • maybe a shade darker, lovely crystal clarity
  • more polish in the nose, orange peel and walnuts
  • good call [by another tweeter] on leathery, and also that touch of sweet spice
  • structured on the palate: a quiet start, mellow salinity and acid, big woody astringency and a lovely long citrus finish
  • very mellow on the front in fact – and very long on the back

#tradicion

  • darker and more red in colour – hazelnut – and for me this one has the smokiest nose so far
  • smokey, orangey, tangy caramel nose
  • I find this a real kicker on the palate – zingy (almost stingy) first up, fading to burnt caramel and spices
  • it is brilliant – a real journey across the palate. Caramel but also smokey spice. On the back it becomes very citrus
  • really is long – eternal

#privilegio

  • my glass appears to be half empty (kidding)
  • brilliant red colour – like a proper old ruby
  • huge nose on this – napalm in the morning, with rainforest burning in the background
  • incense is a great shout – and tobacco – massive nose, maybe a raspberry liqueur?
  • wonderful on the palate – slightly bigger entry, real bang of astringency and salinity and then the wisdom of age
  • seriously, where is the rest of the glass?
  • gentlemen’s club is a great call – one where someone was making toffee and wine in the basement!

#apostoles

  • lovely rich dark colour like a christmas/Dundee cake
  • again smooth on the entry, then some zing on the tongue and then rich fruity followed by tobacco and cedar
  • noticeable raisins and walnuts here, concentration
  • lovely integration here, I like the sweet coffee description: bitter and sweet and both are good
  • the sweetness hangs around a long time on the palate and is less integrated at the back – a bit two pronged
  • last word – now I get pine trees and sap, a real evolution

Summaries:

  • #ViejoCP after the others, like a buttery, zingy chardonnay – very drinkable and light
  • #antique a light touch but some serious notes in there – lovely
  • #tradicion super structure, lovely smokey citrus flavours
  • #privilegio really awesome, so much power, so many flavours, so light on its feet
  • #apostoles a lovely bitter coffee sweetened with cane sugar and steeped in cedar – very smooth

#podium – very difficult, but probably 3 – Tradicion, 2 Apostoles, 1 Privilegio