This morning at the station I bumped into not just one but two brilliant sommeliers – Guillermo Cruz of Mugaritz and Silvia Garcia of Kabuki Wellington. It was a real pleasure – brought back great memories and was fantastic to hear what they have been up to so I have opened this in their honour. The last time I had it was with Guillermo at the start of probably the best set of pairings I have ever had (including this highlight). (My only regret is that I don’t have any of the superb Riesling Silvia once gave us to follow it).

It is by Gutierrez Colosia, one of the big names in el Puerto de Santamaria. They have a pretty good site there but no ficha for this one – no data on age, criaderas etc.

Anyway, whereas the one I had back in July was from the May saca this was from October – I don’t really remember enough to compare them but I remember that one being full of life and this is just as good as I remembered.  Dark straw colouring, lush mouthfeel, zingy minerals and juicy, yeasty flavours.

Really attractive, flavourful fino. This one is dedicated to Spain’s brilliant sommeliers – your good health!

Second of the 3 en rama of the evening is the fino en rama de el Puerto de Santamaria. (Not sure if this is the right order – although this is a seaside wine like the manzanilla, it is further away in km. In any event, here we go.)

Has a very similar colour – deep gold with that slight green tinge, maybe slightly more yellow. Has an even more expressive nose – again minerals but this one is more yeasty and has some creamy, almond like aromas.

On the palate there are more of those minerals – a salinity that is integrated at the outset but intense and zingy at the end. A nice yeasty mouthful with a little bit more nuttiness that the manzanilla. The salinity slightly overpowers the nuts and leaves you with a bitter almond (think biscotti) taste.

An even nicer bottle and right up my street.