This is wine from palomino that I bought as a wine of the week from the discerning chaps at Coalla Gourmet.

Frankly there is a lot I could say about it if I were a proper journalist. It is made by four real live wires who probably deserve a post themselves (like this one by Paz Ivison) it is from Sanlucar, and its name refers to the “sobretablas” – the stage in the production of sherry at which the must is tried and its fate is determined (fino to the left, oloroso to the right, etc). I love comparing the way wines are labeled and here we have a pretty straightforward one, but I find it interesting that they mention on the label the “Albariza soil” which is characteristic of the sherry triangle – when you see that you wonder what they are trying to tell you about the wine. Another feature of the bottle markings is also nice – this is a wine made in two lots, and the bottles are marked “I” and “II” on the base with what appears to be albariza soil.

Anyway, I am not a real journalist so on with my drinking.

First, it is a beautiful colour – a light yellow gold – and the nose is delicious. It has aromas of juicy sweet apples but also tropical fruit like pineapple and even banana – reminds me of a very fine daiginjo sake.

On the palate it doesn’t quite live up to the awesome nose. It is softer than a lot of the palomino white wines and has that nice fruit but seems a bit undercooked/jammy/mushy almost like a natural cider from the North of Spain(nothing at all like a strumpy or anything you would get in a pub in the UK, I hasten to add). I find it a little on the gentle side acidity wise – it comes but it comes late. As a result I find it just a touch heavy.

Love the nose and real potential here just lacks a bit of structure.

Admirable and historically interesting as they may be, I just can’t quite enjoy these wines.

This is a 100% palomino fino, from a “historic” vineyard, fermented in a sherry butt with the yeasts from the vine itself, then six months more under flor, and absolutely no fortification.  It is supposedly what all the hip sherry bloggers would have been drinking in the 18th Century. It is also made by the thoroughly admirable, expert trio of Equipo Navazos, Quim Vila and Dirk Niepoort.

It is a dark, old gold colour and has a very interesting nose: coppery tin and grapefruit. It also has grapefruit flavours on the palate, with lime cordial and maybe a hint of cream. It is all the juicy fruit flavours of a lively sherry but I must admit I don’t enjoy it much – for me these fruit flavours seem brash, and I end up hankering for the fine texture and nutty, bready flavours of a good old fino.

Having said that, I think these palominos are worth trying and give real clues to appreciating sherries when the time comes.