Didn’t take many notes but when I asked for an oloroso to accompany my callos it was a nice surprise to see the Rio Viejo coming out and, just as I expected, it was a delicious combination.
Can’t find a ficha for this one but it doesn’t seem a particularly old wine – dry, nice touch of acidity, nutty caramel aromas and flavours, nicely integrated alcohol. A very drinkable wine indeed.
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!
I got this for a song from Vila Viniteca (it really is a crime how cheap these wines are) with one of the few remaining 2006 Vintage finos and it is no slouch at all.
This is an 8 year old, 9 criadera fino from fruit (100% palomino fino, of course) from Pago Balbaina (Jerez Superior) by Williams & Humbert and has a cracking ficha (although the translation is a bit tricky and the Spanish version is a bit clearer).
It has a very pale gold colour, a punchy nose with plenty of aromas of citrus and acetaldehydes. It is full bodied and full flavoured too, a real mouthful. The salinity is very mellow, but it is long and lingering and there are ash-like minerals towards the end.
A big, bold fino, in the classic Jerez style.
Can this be as good as the Fino? Well, since it is manzanilla Monday seems like the perfect time to find out.
Dark gold colour with even a touch of orange. On the nose there are grass cuttings, dried herbs, almonds, minerals, a bit of citrus, maybe creaminess. On the palate the citrus seems more present, there is zingy salinity on the sides of the tongue then dried herbs – parsley and bitter almonds and salty ozone. A nice mineral, juicy and herby manzanilla.
Now I have tasted it and jotted down my thoughts, I feel able to look up the details on the splendiferous website, which again doesn’t let anyone down. Cracking technical detail again such as:
“selected from 5 of the 41 barrels that make up the top row of the Maruja solera. The solera is organized in 4 rows of 41 to 44 barrels, one stacked upon another. The lower rows, being closer to the albero floor (a type of sand, frequently watered and used to maintain humidity in bodegas), are exposed to higher humidity and lower temperatures, the higher rows receiving lower humidity and (somewhat) higher temperatures.”
More importantly, this wine is from the same solera as the maruja and maruja manzanilla pasada – fruit from the El Hornillo pago and a highly dynamic solera – lots of rotation here. The yeast was apparently less developed and prolific on these botas: the maker thinks it has made it even more mineral but for me it is a touch less mineral than my memory of the maruja itself – and maybe a bit more full flavoured.
Look I can’t lie I am more of a fino man, particularly when they are big, generously umami finos like the splendid 4/65, but this is still lovely stuff.
Ths is an old amontillado from a finite supply – no longer being made and only a few cases are left. I got this (and a twin) from the Cuatrogatos Wine Club, a great source for small bottlings, rare sherries and other indie wines. It is by Delgado Zuleta (but don’t look for this on their web).
Not keen on the look of the cork I must say – not sure how long I would trust that to keep this wine safe.
As to the wine itself, it has a nice orange colour to it but not fully clear. Also has that distinctive refined petroleum nose – sweet, salty, and alcoholic.
Zingy acidity and sapidity on the palate too – sweetness and a nice hint of burnt wood, then saltiness Maybe a hint of age about it – slightly dusty, astringent vibe and woody, tobacco flavours.
Nice wine, no doubt, one that was brilliant tonight with roast chicken, but while tasty I find its flavours a little on the barrel side.
Here’s another interesting wine from Ramiro Ibañez at Cota 45, the “Pandorga” (meaning kite, hence the label), a 100% pedro ximenez, this one from 2014 and a much anticipated purchase from the Cuatrogatos Wine Club.
Interestingly, according to a note I just read this comes from PX grown on a vineyard you may have heard of: La Panesa, in Carrascal (which I think I am right in saying used to be the property of Emilio Hidalgo, and inspired the name of their famous fino). Harvested slightly late, the fruit is left in the sun in the traditional way (although I would guess slightly less than is usual), fermented and spends a year in bota – I believe this has literally just been bottled.
As with other wines by Cota 45, there seems to be a deliberate intention to allow the characteristics of the fruit to shine through: it is only 12% proof so you know it is going to be sweet and it doesn’t disappoint on that score, but it is relatively fresh and light by comparison to the heavier, darker styles of PX you may be accustomed to (not unlike the Ximenez Spinola Vintage 2014, although I think I remember that one as more raisiny).
As I have often said, I struggle to pick out the structure and features of sweeter wines, and on first tasting this it was no different, but a day later I am getting more from it. It is a honey-like amber in colour and not as cloudy as the picture above suggests (not sure what has happened there) – maybe just a little short of crystal clear. On the nose it is more grapey than raisiny – with a suggestion of that marmalade, old fruit aroma you get in the more intense champagnes.
On the tongue it is sugary rich like a fruit juice first up, very nicely integrated acidity, and now I am getting a real marmalade/intense apricot jam vibe at the back -bittersweet fruit. The finish isn’t sticky at all, but those fruit flavours hang around.
This is wine that you could drink gallons of without realizing (probably a good thing it comes in slightly smaller 50cl bottles) but also merits some study.
You can’t beat a fino en rama and I am enjoying this one by Bodegas Faustino Gonzalez.
According to the Ficha the wine is 100% palomino from Pago de Montealegre in Jerez Superior and has an average age under flor of 5-7 years (seems oddly approximate). There is no mention of the number of criaderas or sacas (or of which saca this is).
It is dark gold in colour and has that yeasty hay bale/undergrowth aroma – may even be a bit fungal – and bitter lemon or grapefruit. Big flavour – salty, bitter citrus, with nice integrated salinity and a longish, slightly soapy finish.
Maybe not quite as much definition or expression as some finos, but a yeasty mouthful and just what I needed on a Monday night.
A VOS (20 year old) oloroso from Valdespino. Not a lot of information on the Grupo Estevez site other than that it is from wine sourced from a mix of vines from Macharnudo and Carrascal.
It is a darkish hazelnut colour and has that extreme gasoline nose of the really old sherries – intense solvent/furniture polish. On the palate it is dry, intense, acidic, and concentrated, but above all bitter. Has the character of a much older wine – but essentially bitter flavours, from black burnt caramel to tobacco and cedar wood.
Not absolutely my cup of tea – a little harsh, astringent and agey but it is good stuff nonetheless.
Number 3 of the 3 en rama (after the manzanilla and the fino de el Puerto) this one is a fino from a solera in Jerez de la Frontera itself.
The colour here again is an attractive gold – doesn’t seem to have the green or yellow tinges of its brethren. On the nose there is sea air, yeast, nuts and maybe a little citrus. Definitely more haybales here than green grass – really nice nose.
On the palate there is that mineral punch – you can really detect that these three wines are from the same maker – although in this wine the flavours are straightaway bitter almonds, and some citrus, which takes over so that the tail end of the flavour is more bitter citrus – a grapefruit like flavour (without the acidity).
Mineral, punchy, flavourful stuff – with those citrus and bitter flavours that are not quite my bag but this is proper fino, no doubt.
undertheflor.com 