A classic manzanilla pasada and one that seems different every time I try it (and there have been a few already. At times I find it full of green apples, other times ripe, almost overripe apples,  other times the apples are under haybales. This was from the August 2016 saca (I really need to start taking better note of these things).

Anyway, this time the apples are deep in bitter spices and spikey salinity. It has a much more vertical, Sanlucar feel to it than sometimes, but still has that fruit underneath. Really long and almost stinging finish, leaving your mouth smarting and watering in equal measure.

I wish I had a magnum all for me and all afternoon to drink it. Enjoyed by the glass in Madrid Angelita – a haven in a sea of sherryless torment.

Another from the solera of Hijos de Rainera Perez Marin (from a long line of masterpieces including the 60, 50, 40, and 20 – probably the best manzanilla pasada I have had) and this hits all my buttons. Yeasty, haystack, roasted apple nose, buttery texture, sweet/savoury roasted apple palate and bittersweet mouthwatering finish.

What a wine, ladies and gentlemen. Absolute belter.

This is really singing tonight – have declared wine o’clock in the office and am  enjoying it immensely. A lovely chamomile nose and golden, roasted apple, hay and spicey celery palate, with a mouth watering finish. Really top class and suddenly the office is a happier place. 

One of the things I love about Territorio Era is being surprised by wines I hadn’t come across elsewhere and here is another one. This is a manzanilla pasada by “Despacho de Vinos Mar 7” a project of a daughter of Pedro Romero, who has acquired wines from Delgado Zuleta for finishing in her own style (in what was the HQ of Pedro Romero).

The wines are fully en rama and unfiltered and this one is said to have had a total of around 8 years under flor.  As you can see the colour is relatively dark, a deep, rich yellow gold with maybe just the tiniest suggestion of green at the edges. While that might suggest age the nose suggested youth – a lot of green apple freshness and sweeter herbal tea to it, with just a hint or salty air in the background. On the palate too it seems to be at the lighter, fresher, green apple end of the scale, although nice and fine and with a nice salinity to keep it vertical.

Very nice, not over done, and very very easy to drink.

This is my second bottle of this cracking manzanilla pasada by Equipo Navazos and I am really wondering if I was in possession of my senses the first time around.

Back then I highlighted the elegance and, reading between the lines, seemed to consider it a bit quiet. Coming back to it now that seems outlandish. It has absolutely bags of flavour and power: salty brine, haybales, stewed, baked apples, and a spicey finish. In fact, if anything the flavours seem almost too vivid. The salty haybales and jammy fruits balance each other in some ways but like an hourglass – there is too little middle ground. The result seems to lack overall harmony.

Last night I opened it alongside an older riesling from a famously chalky vineyard but in retrospect it wasn’t a great comparison – a completely different profile – and that side by side may be behind my fixation on the saltiness and yeasty hay bales. What was clear from the comparison was just how complex and full of life the wines of Sanlucar and Jerez are when compared to the “table” wines of other regions.

Nevertheless I intend to take my time with this bottle and will write more soon.

An unexpected treat last night while out at dinner with friends, this is the brilliant little manzanilla pasada by Barbadillo that I first tried and wrote about back in March. Really nice green apples to it – lovely stuff.

Unfortunately it wasn’t popular with my friends last night though – I ended up with most of the bottle to myself. Not a big wine drinking crowd, admittedly, but more proof that these lighter wines are more of a challenge for those new to the sherry experience. 

Celebrating yesterday’s EPS article with a little drop of this lovely manzanilla pasada. I remember it as herbs, minerals and hay bales but with a bit of apricot or something.

The colour is no different of course but the nose and palate are quite different. The key words here are salt and pepper. Really zingy minerals and spicey –  white pepper – and not as much fruit (or haybale) as I remember. I am intrigued by the difference actually – both the previous bottles I remember had this jammy fruit sensation to them and this seems much more spice than fruit (and much more in keeping with the Maruja Manzanilla).