This is an “en rama” oloroso by Bodegas Faustino Gonzalez. According to the ficha it has an average age of 10 years in a solera that dates back to 1900. (You can get some excellent background from Criadera‘s posts on them.)

They call it an “en rama”, by which I assume they mean that they have not filtered it but the expression seems odd in relation to an oloroso. En rama literally means “still on the branch” like a fresh fruit or tomato – seems odd for an oxidated wine but maybe it is just me.

As you can see it is a yellowy orange brown in colour and just a touch cloudy – probably the lack of filtering. Not the biggest nose for an oloroso – little bit meek – but a pleasant one, sweetness, hints of ginger, cedar and reduction/old barrel.

On the palate it has a little bit of acidic, salty buzz, sugar burnt black. Not much power, to be honest, and although it has some heat and nice flavours it comes across as slightly hollow and lacking in center. Nice finish – buzzy burnt caramel – but again not overly long.

A nice enough wine – maybe just a little soft centered.

Love this – an oloroso by Callejuela that is deep and rich but light and alive.

I do like the clear bottles and the way they let you see the colours of these wines. Having said that, in the bottle the wine is a rosy Horsechestnut brown although it seems a shade more yellow-brown in the glass. It has a big nose as you would expect (oloroso literally means “odourous”) with that “here comes sweetness” aroma of caramel and burnt cake.

On the palate it is zingy and acidic, really acidic, on the tongue first up but then it is fruity on the tongue, raisins and burnt but not bitter caramel – it is dry but with sweet leanings and it isn’t dusty or astringent. The texture is full bodied – not oily or syrupy but seems dense- frankly I think the texture suits the powerful flavours of the wine.  A long, long burn on the tongue, let alone the caramel flavours it leaves you with.

Really excellent.

  
The last of my notes on this range of wines (after the Amontillado, the Palo Cortado and the flight) this is the oloroso. Again a “reserve” with an average age of 15 years+. 

It is a deep reddish brown like a fresh conker and has a very flavourful nose of old apple sauce and caramel. On the palate it has a nice spicey astringency/acidity and flavours of  brown sugar and a long long finish of burnt christmas cake. 

I like it a lot – maybe a little astringent and not a big range to it but a really solid wine. (Funnily enough I like it more than I did when tasted against its Brethren recently – seemed to suffer by comparison.) 

Photo is to scale – I have a nice set of these VORS GB wines in dinky little bottles for tasting.

Super dark in colour – real old wood polish brown, and the same kind of vibe from the nose. I was at a tasting where a colleague compared it to cathedral furniture and he wasn’t far from the money. A really reductive, astringent nose.

On the palate too you have that walnut skin astringency, a really acidic feel, albeit balanced by the sweetness which becomes a deep burnt caramel toffee – a really dark, savoury flavour. I have documented my skepticism with the sweetened wines and this is not fully convincing me either – the sweetness helps balance the bitter, astringent flavours but still seems slightly out of place.

A deep, serious wine with a touch of sweetness: a real wolf in sheep’s clothing.

This is a very highly rated oloroso by a label – Bodegas Tradicion -that is paradoxically newer than most of its wines and which has done as much as anyone to bring high quality sherries to market (and sell them)(for good money).

I love the information on the label – this is bottle number 1136/4200 from the first saca of 2014.  On the back it mentions that this has been aged in casks/botas “very” soaked in wine – and it has been in there a good good long while.

In colour it is at the orange/yellow end of the scale of browns and very clear. On the nose it has very pronounced caramel, baked citrus and a little alcohol – I don’t find it the most expressive nose for an oloroso.

On the palate it is balanced and zingy, full of burnt caramel flavours maybe not as big as expected but eternally long. On its label it talks about a concentration of aromas. I buy the concentration but I don’t pick out a lot of different things. On the other hand, it is superbly drinkable – a really elegant oloroso with no rough edges.

Very, very, good.

Compared to the amontillado this seems a bit happier in its own skin.

Clear and reddish brown in colour, it has caramel and sugary almonds on the nose. On the palate it is full flavoured indeed – nice caramel to burnt caramel and a toasty finish. A bit more crackle to it than the amontillado – very decent indeed.