Bottle Ageing

Night of the Pitijopos – Part II

~ sharquillo ~ 1 Comment

At the time  I thought it would take me a good while to write this one up and so it has proved. In fact it has taken even longer than expected since the quality of Pitijopo #6 set me off on a multi-day spree of wines from the same Finca Matalian (as you may have noticed).

I have already reported on, for me, the stars of the show – the Pitijopos themselves and the Callejuela Manzanilla de Añada, and by this stage my own direct memories of the other wines of the cata (which would always have been blurred) have faded away somewhat. To be honest, rather than “tastings” it would probably be more accurate to call these occasions “drinkings”, but then again I never claimed to be any good at this.

Nevertheless, there were some little beauties there. On the sherry side, there was :

  • a bottle of Alba Sobre Tabla – again from 2013 but this time Lot II, which showed a nice cidery nose, champagne like yeasty notes and balanced acidity but to be quite honest struggled to live up to its billing (and the unenviable task of following the Pitijopos);
  • (two bottles of) an excellent Sacristia AB Manzanilla en Rama – this time the first saca of 2015 – which can be irregular but this was still potent and full of life (alhough dusty next to the “Añada”);
  • an even better bottle of the Maruja manzanilla pasada which I just think is superb – jammy, saline, herbal – a beautiful wine;
  • a really interesting old bottle of “Jerez Oro” by Parra Guerrero , which seemed to be a fino or at most a fino amontillado that had had a long time in the bottle -had mellowed into a fluffy, slightly dusty nutty nougat; and, last of all
  • a bottle of Piñero Cream, about which unsurprisingly I can remember almost nothing at all!

As you can also see from the picture above, the sherries didn’t have it their own way either. There was a fantastic old Vinho Verde – pure honey and cream in a bottle -, a spectacular old 1964 white Rioja, two excellent champagnes, of which one was a fascinating 100% petit meunier rosado, a terrific Rasteau syrah/grenache and a lovely, elegant Real de Asua.

And all of this with the absolutely top drawer cooking of the Chula de Chamberi (all of the above notwithstanding the foie with nisperos and apricot toast was memorable (and repeated)) as we took over the big table in the corner in a fashion that could best be described as a well mannered riot. A really excellent night all round and one I am really looking forward to repeating once Volume II is available.

Terry Fino Maruja

~ sharquillo ~ 2 Comments

A historic old bottle of fino that was produced at dinner last night. A really interesting opportunity to taste a wine that has been a long time in the bottle (although an experience that was somewhat lessened by a lack of information – noone had any idea of when exactly the bottle had been bought except that it was years before).

However old it was, it was a very pleasant drop, and it at least seemed as if the years had really knocked the edges off it. Golden in colour, creamy and nutty on the nose and again really soft, bready and nutty on the palate.

Very drinkable – if this is what bottle ageing can do to finos then I may have to squirrel some away (or look for some dusty oldies).

La Guita 2009, 2011, 2014

~ sharquillo ~ 4 Comments

2014 on the left, 2009 on the right – just look at the colours. It is immediate on the nose, and on the palate too.

We started with the 2014 and it was light, fresh, dry, fruity, saline and refreshing – a lovely drop (15/20). Next stop was the 2009 and the oxidation was really interesting. The fruitiness had become nuttier – it had maybe lost a little of its freshness while gaining a bit of power (16/20). Last, the 2011, which unsurprisingly had gained some complexity while maintaining more of the fruit and lightness of the 2014 (16/20).

Not sure which is “better” but they really are different wines and it was an excellent experiment (made possible, it must be said, by the guys at Coalla Gourmet who somehow got their hands on the 2009 and 2011). My own favourite was the 2011 – maybe I will have to keep some en ramas after all.

La Guita 2009

~ sharquillo ~ Leave a comment

A rare opportunity to get a crack at an older manzanilla. Not sure if it was en rama or not – no marking on the bottle. 

First tasting it seemed a gem – fresh despite the salinity and slightly oxidized in a harmonious way. In fact the most notable thing about it was how integrated it was – La Guita off the shelf can sometimes be just too salty and thin for my taste, whereas this was more rounded.

Coming back to it a day later it had staled a little – didn’t enjoy being open – but to be fair it was only a half bottle so there was no need to come at it in two attempts. All in all an interesting experiment in bottle ageing.