Oloroso

Oloroso el Galeon

~ sharquillo ~ 1 Comment

A delightful wine and a delightful pairing. We were having a spot of lunch in la Chula de Chamberi and this magically appeared in the centre of the table ar more or less the same time as a bevy of grilled razorclams (navajas a la plancha). Or maybe I should say hoved into view, because this is Oloroso el Galeon.

It is a 100% palomino, 20 year old oloroso by Sanchez Ayala in Sanlucar (better known for their Gabriela and Gabriela Oro manzanilla, not to mention the special bottlings of their wines by Equipo Navazos and Sacristia AB) and it was indeed delightful. It is, as you can see thanks to my much improved photography, a beautiful red amber colour – just look at the brilliant reflections in the glass. On the nose it had a nice salty caramel effect – very appetising indeed – then on the palate it lived up to that billing and them some: tasty, light on its feet, salty but with an almost delicate acidity and lovely balance.

Really good stuff – and an excellent pairing with the salty, juicy razorclams.

Oloroso Terry

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Saw this recommended by Soliciting Flavours and then by Juancho Asenjo and thought I ought to give it a shot. Picked up a bottle instanter in Bodega Santa Cecilia and, after a short hiatus caused by a headcold, here we are.

A very decent, tasty oloroso. A rich brown in colour and not quite crystaline – ever so slightly turbid. Old barrel and spices on the nose, and old barrel and spices on the palate too – bit of acidity to it. Not high in fruit or juice but plenty of tang and a nice smokey finish too. Enjoyed it more with some pasta – just helped it a little.

Not as big and generous in profile as some but very nice and a great option on the dinner table.

Williams Coleccion Añadas

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This is a fantastic project by Williams & Humbert featuring six añadas wines from the 2003, 2009 and 2012 vintages – finos and olorosos for 2009 and 2012 but for 2003 an oloroso and an amontillado. I was able to get my hands on one of a small number of cases through Coalla Gourmet a little while ago now but haven’t yet had an opportunity to taste them all together.

Really looking forward to doing so however. So far I have come across the 2009 Fino and the 2009 Oloroso in the wild and they have been really impressive. Before that, of course, Williams was responsible for the brilliant 2006 Vintage Fino (tasted not once, or twice, but three times – the third against a really high quality solera fino) and is also the home of the redoubtable 9 year old el Pando, amongst others.

Oloroso Tradicion 

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This is a 2014 saca from this magnificent bodega’s oloroso and it is brilliant. Seen here in action at a lunch where we were partaking of a few callos and it absolutely excelled.

In colour it is orange/yellow/brown and a lovely shine to it. On the nose a very nice caramel and a touch of citrus – maybe the contrast with the callos we had on the table but it just had a touch of freshness to it.

Then on the palate I find it really excellent – lively and zingy, nice caramel flavour and enough punch. I remember more baked citrus notes in this but this one is neither sour nor astringent – really elegant in fact. Ever since I recommended the pairing so heavily I worry about whether these wines may be like pouring water on a fat fire where callos are concerned but this had that acidic effect of cutting through the fattiness and enough overall structure, even if at the end it does seem to leave a burning tingle. (Today’s callos were particularly spicey.)

A brilliant, elegant wine (and let’s face it, a cracking lunch).

 

 

Oloroso 1986, Bodegas Hidalgo – La Gitana

~ sharquillo ~ 4 Comments

Ana in the Chula de Chamberi very kindly saved the last glass of this for me and I am extremely grateful. It is a beautiful wine.

This is a single vineyard, vintage wine from the legendary Jerez pago “El Cuadrado” (see here for an idea of its location – at the West end of the Barbaina pago, the most sea-influenced of the Jerez pagos). It is by Hidalgo la Gitana and has been twenty years in botas in the San Francisco bodega in the centre of Sanlucar: according to the label 12 botas to start with, but a barely believable 3 by the end. If my maths serve me right it has since spent 10 years in its bottle.

The time has been well spent because it is epic.

First, it has a curious look to it – very black, smokey and murky. Not all that much sediment in the glass – could be a result of having been shaken up but just look at what it has done to the bottle (easiest to see looking at the neck). It really looks like it has been through some sort of trauma (but it still really excellent) – if anyone knows what might have caused this I would be most interested.

On the nose there are relatively muted aromas of old barrels and gingerish spices, black treacle, and Christmas cake. Really none of those polish or solvent, volatile type aromas and maybe that was why it seemed muted (it was also a little cold). Nonetheless a very appetising nose.

Then on the palate it is downright lovely – has the elegance of a Sanlucar wine but a beautifully rich, Christmas-cake body to it. Concentrated but class – a wine where you only need a merest sip and sip after tiny sip give you black treacle flavours fading to toffee, coffee/black chocolate like bitterness and then cloves and woody spices. It is savoury rather than saline – maybe a tingle on the tip and top of the tongue – not at all astringent and just that little bit of acidic bite. Really unbelievably rich, flavourful and smooth and the spices at the end are perfect.

Wonderful. More please!

Oloroso Extraviejo 1/7 El Maestro Sierra

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When they say “extra old” they really mean it. According to the ficha this has an average age of 80 years of oxidative ageing from a solera of only 7 botas (hence the 1/7) although fed in turn by 1/14 solera – which produces wines of  50 years old. They don’t make much of it: 100 bottles a year – this is 70/100 from 2014 (they also release 300 of the 50 year old). I love the recommended pairing – a good book.

The colour is a beautiful rich chestnut brown and there is real singe on the nose – furniture polish or extremely concentrated walnut. Sweetness in the nose too – real burnt butter caramel.  As the glass warms and empties there are more aromas – pine wood chips/cedar cigar matches and old tobacco. (My grandad was a pipe smoker and this took me back a bit to his attic.)

On tasting there is sweetness on the tip of the tongue but then a spike of acidity and those walnutskin, wood and tobacco flavours. It doesn’t seem astringent or harsh but there are highly concentrated flavours, that walnut again, then really dry dusty flavours and a long caramel finish but one that dries the mouth a little.

An elegant and spicey drink – all you need is the good book because it has the cigar incorporated!

Oloroso en rama 2009, saca de febrero 2016, Williams Colección Añadas

~ sharquillo ~ 4 Comments

  

This is a vintage, en rama oloroso from the 2009 harvest which I was lucky enough to try at lunch yesterday in Verdejo Taberna Artesana. It is from a fantastic release by Williams & Humbert – the Williams Colleción Añadas – a case of six different añada wines including finos, olorosos and an amontillado. (I actually have one of these boxes – acquired via Coalla Gourmet – but am hoping to find an opportunity to open all six.) I haven’t seen a ficha for this but am told by a reliable source that the wine is from the pago Añina, on tosca cerrada.

As you can see it is a dark gold in fino terms but a light honey colour for an oloroso – six and a half years of oxidative ageing. It really looks good in fact. The nose is equally promising:  dry but has aromas of fruit, alcohol, cake and maybe just a bit of seaair – I even felt like there was a burnt, campfire edge to it. 

On the palate it is fully dry but has a plump, rounded profile and is full of flavour – delicious in fact. Rich, acidic, alcoholic, fruity and with an edge of minerals before a long almost sweet finish. 

A really top class wine – looking forward to opening the box!

Oloroso Solera BC 200

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This was a fantastic bottle of wine. The highlight of a brilliant dinner at El Faro del Puerto courtesy of Don Fernando – a prince among hosts.

Not literally from 200 BC but pretty old nonetheless – has a pretty good ficha which explains that it is from a Solera founded in 1864 and would have an average age of 40 years or so. Fernando told us that these were the “Botas de los Consejeros” reserved for the executives with the biggest hats and also that it was the favourite wine of the Tsars (although it wasn’t clear whether the Tsars were executives of Osborne themselves).

As the ficha says, there is a a 1/8th share of PX in here but it is perfectly integrated and, even better, there is none of the excessive astringency or concentration of some really old wines. It is full in flavour – some very pleasant spices and black treacle that really repays swishing around the tongue – but also has a nice acidic entry and an equally pleasant sweet tail to it.

A really silky smooth wine all around in fact and a privilege to have tasted it.

Oloroso La Barajuela 2013

~ sharquillo ~ 5 Comments

  
An oloroso you would not pick out of a lineup. Look at that beautiful gold colour. This is the twin of the Fino la Barajuela 2013 but these are the even heavier grapes, harvested later and creating what must have been an almighty mosto. 

No flor here, and if two years is young for a fino it is remarkably young for an oloroso. Maybe as a result it isn’t very aromatic and certainly not very caramelized – but intriguingly I thought it had a suggestion of the burnt edge of an oloroso. Almonds and slightly jammy fruit on the nose. Then on the palate extremely meaty and more almonds and jam. Then the burnt edge at the end. Or am I imagining it? I would really like to taste this one blind one of these days.

 In any event, another wine with personality and a pretty nice one too. 

Oloroso Villapanes

~ sharquillo ~ 2 Comments

  
After the younger, fruitier style olorosos I have bren enjoying lately it is good to come back to this classic. 

You really notice the age and concentration – the barrel and the incipient astringency which comes across as acidity and seems to last forever on the palate and the top of the mouth. And the burnt caramel flavours too – definitely that burnt quality is in there – even mineral ashes after. (Have just finished a bottle of La Panesa at home and am always struck by the savoury richness of these Emilio Hidalgo wines.)

Had this with callos at the bar of the Taberna de Pedro and frankly life should always be like this.