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Amontillado Micaela

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I first had this ages ago, pre-blog, in the Chula, and finding myself at said locale once more (first time this week) I thought I would continue my mini-streak of Sanlucar amontillados and palo cortados .

It is a young amontillado (4-5 years old) from Bodegas Baron in Sanlucar. (Bodegas Baron produce no fewer than 4 amontillados under their different brands: this and the Pino Viejo are 4-5 years old, then there is the Xixarito at 14 years and the Soluqua at 30 years.) Like all the Bodegas Baron wines this one is nicely presented, with a kind of antique floral label.

As you can see, the wine itself is darkish amber in colour – more yellow than orange – and it has a quite baked apple/mineral nose. I would guess it was under the flor for at least a couple of those 4-5 years because it is really zingy, the salinity makes the caramel flavours seem intense, then there are smoky minerals and burned sugar flavours that seem to last a long time.

Maybe not quite as full flavoured/varied in the middle but plenty tasty alright.

Manzanilla pasada en rama Xixarito 

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Second time around the block for this wine (didn’t really grab me the first time but there may have been some stemware issues).

According to the website we are looking at a manzanilla with an average age of 8 years from fruit from either the El Poedo or El Hato vineyards. There is a reference to the banks of the Guadalquivir river that doesn’t appear in the ficha of the Micaela but both are aged in the bodega “Molinillos 2ª” in the Barrio Alto of Sanlucar.

Since I had these two together at the Chula it is hard not to compare them. First thing you notice is the colour – this pasada is a rich gold but nowhere near as evolved. On the nose it is quite different in character too: a bitter olive, bready nose with none of the sweet citrus notes of the little cousin. Also savory on the palate by comparison, with more mineral zing and vegetable intensity and a saltier finish.

A big savory, punchy wine.

 

Manzanilla en rama Micaela (again) 

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You have to say the labels are top class on these. Quality packaging won’t solve all the problems in the sherry triangle but it certainly doesn’t hurt. What I particularly like about this one is the floral, colourful greenery – dead right for a manzanilla (even if this one isn’t particularly floral or green).

As to the wine inside, according to the website we are looking at a manzanilla en rama with an average age of 4 years under flor from Jerez Superior fruit (according to another section of the web the family has two vineyards: El Poedo and El Hato, but it is not specified which fruit is in this Micaela).

Like a lot of en ramas it has a brownish, evolved looking colour as you can see above which gives it the appearance of a much older wine.  On the nose there are the big bales of hay you expect but also a sweet, coppery, stewed tomato aroma – a bit disconcerting at first but it improves with time in the glass. On the palate it has a smooth, slightly bitter citrus quality, with well integrated minerals and alcohol that don’t intrude. Lovely long, fresh finish.

Overall a tasty and well integrated wine.

(The penny has now dropped – I did of course review this just a couple of weeks ago. Glad to see that the impressions are similar, but the colour of this one is definitely more evolved.)

Manzanilla Gabriela 

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What a week of manzanillas it has been – here is another, from renowned but not widely distributed Sanlucar maker Sanchez Ayala. The bodega has been a happy hunting ground in particular for the Equipo Navazos boys: the Number 1 release was a Sanchez Ayala and there have been no fewer than 12 in total (including some absolute crackers). However this is the first time I have tried one under their own label.

It is their classic manzanilla. Has an excellent ficha, which tells us that the palomino is sourced from the “Las Cañas” vine in Pago Balbaína. The wine has an average age under flor of five years, and has passed through no fewer than nine criaderas.

And the resulting wine is indeed a classic. Pale in colour, a nice fresh floral, almond and sea air nose and an equally fresh, delicate profile on the palate. Very elegant and fine – maybe not the biggest flavour profile but easy in and easy out – very nice quaffing as they say. Could imagine myself drinking bottles of this down at the beach.

Manzanilla Viva la Pepa 

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The “other” wine from yesterday’s visit to Taberna Palo Cortado was this very pleasant manzanilla from Sanchez Romate. I am a fan of the Fino Perdido and have been looking out for this – a stripling by comparison with only just over three years under flor – for a while.

As I think you can appreciate from the photo it is very pale in colour and very clear – has that crystaline quality that I have come to associate with finos and manzanillas. The nose is also delicate – a discreet aroma of herbs and meadow flowers, with sea air in the background. On the palate it is fresh, although the sensation gets a little saltier over time, and again the flavours are delicate – nothing big or overpowering about this.

Very pleasant and a great little aperitif.

 

 

Cobijado 2013

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Lunch in La Taberna de Pedro to start the week off properly and one of the wines of the week is this from the province of Cadiz. According to the blackboard it is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot and Tintilla de Rota – the autoctonous red grape from Rota that is back in vogue – and according to the label it is a creation of Jaime Carvajal in partnership with Barbadillo. 

It is very good. It is a purplish burgundy in colour and slightly turbid. It has a nice blackberry jam nose with maybe a bit of undergrowth and spices. On the palate too there is more rich, jammy dark fruit, maybe a little bit of dryness in contact but a sticky, fruity sweetness that lasts a good long while – maybe even a bit of chocolate or something (have now run out so cannot go further).

And with it, a stewed wild partridge – not normally my bag (work to meat ratio) but tasty stuff. 

Manzanilla en rama Micaela

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I was certain I had tried this manzanilla by bodegas Baron before but in fact back in May I had the straight manzanilla. This one is the en rama which I picked up at the weekend from a cracking little store near my office called Vino & Compania. According to the ficha it is the same age as the straight up manzanilla, at 3-4 years under flor and the chief difference between them is the level of filtering – this one only very lightly filtered with egg whites. There is no indication that I can see of when this was bottled.

It is dark gold and crystal clear (quite a dark gold for a 4 year old wine) and has an interesting nose of copper, metals, somewhere between vegetable and fruit (a sweet tomato ) and sweet herbs. Maybe a little bit of bottle age – but hard to tell. Very gentle salinity first up (although it creeps up on you and tingles on the tongue) and without being massive in flavour it is nicely rounded – again fruit and juicy yeasty herbs.

Not overdone in any way and seems to have more oomph than the filtered version – a really nice little bottle.

Cruz Vieja Oloroso en rama 

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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.

Manzanilla Sacristia AB – primera saca 2015 

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Conscience brings me back to this having failed to pay due care and attention to it during a long and riotous night last week. This is one of the wines of the week at the superb Restaurante Vinoteca Garcia de la Navarra.

Darkish in colour and just a little dull rather than crystalline. On the nose it is also relatively meek – haybales and maybe just a bit of ozone, but not a big aromatic manzanilla by any means.

On the palate it has a nice fresh entry and then an intense, zingy salinity, with maybe just a little yeastiness and a herbal/vegetable flavour. It is very, very long indeed, but has quite a lot of alcoholic heat. 

A potent, almost fierce manzanilla but quiet in aromas and flavours. I may have got hold of this too soon/too late – hard to say. 

Fino CB 

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This is a 100% pedro ximenez fino from Alvear in Montilla Moriles.

Pale and clear in colour and not the liveliest nose – faint hay bales, maybe some unsalted nuts. 

Smooth and salty. Very “fine” in texture for a 100% px and again not overly expressive. Nice punch to it but not zing or real intensity in sherry terms. For flavours: salty with a bit of nut you would say.

Another very elegant fino – this one a bit meek for my tastes.