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La Bota de Palo Cortado 62 “Diez años despues”

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This is the wine chosen by the guys at Equipo Navazos to celebrate their 10th year and true to their recent releases it is a bit different. The previous anniversary release was a very limited edition and subsequently became very very valuable, so this was one I didn’t want to miss (and thanks to the guys at Coalla Gourmet here we are).

It is a palo cortado from the “Sanatorio” – the bodega of Manuel Aragon in Chiclana, at the far South of el Marco (and beloved of this blog for a number of reasons). Like a classic Equipo Navazos release we are told it is from a single cask that has not been touched for years and that the wine is an average of around 50-60 years old. 

It is a deep brown colour – crystalline but a tone that is a little dull. On the palate it is pleasantly gentle and fresh – in fact not as powerful or saline as I expected for a wine of its age. It is full of salty, nutty, tobacco and barrel flavours, maybe even a bit of orange peel hands – it is nicely integrated and has a very long, fresh but slightly bitter finish. It just lacks that power – while I generally pine for exactly this kind of elegance and flavour, here I am missing a bit of grunt. 

No doubt about it, another fascinating release. 

Socaire 2014 

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I firat had this last week at Surtopia but having received an emergency aid package from the Cuatrogatos I wanted to give it a proper run out in its own right.

It is a 100% palomino by Primitivo Collantes that I have been looking forward to ever aince I tried its little brother, the Viña Matalian. It is unfortified and has not spent time under flor but was fermented and aged for two years in botas that had formerly held Fino Arroyuelo. 

The result has a beautiful gold colouring and a lush nose with fruit, almonds and sweet herbs as it opens up. It has a chalky touch and is very slightly saline without being zingy – minerals like a chablis as we said the other night. Like its brethren it is long rather than wide – tastier for that time in the barrel but elegant and fresh.

Really good, another Chiclana classic. 

Fino en rama Fernando de Castilla – Diciembre 2015

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Another edition of this top class en rama over lunch in the Chula de Chamberi.

A darkish gold in colour, and a lovely nose of salty air, nuts and just a little bit of hay bales. Nice body too it and salty and spicey at the finish – to be quite honest I have just looked back at the notes of the November 2014 and this is bang in that same profile.  A really nice little wine with lots of things in it.

Fino en rama Gran Barquero

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The en rama version of the classic 8-10 year old Montilla Moriles fino (TN here) by Perez Barquero and this is possibly even better.

Lovely old gold colour and big on aromas of haybales and yeast but also a bit of chamomile tea and some grapefruity citrus. Quite solid on the palate but not flabby at all, and the flavours are punchy, spicey and zingy. It really follows through on those hay bales with a salty, yeasty, intense palate.

A really top class fino.

Manzanilla Deliciosa en Rama, Spring 2016

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This is the en rama version of an old favourite and one that I have pursued for over a year – just never seemed to coincide with it until by chance I spotted it on the Coalla Gourmet tweet stream last week.

It is a lovely little bottle of wine, yeasty bakery on the nose, with citrus and sea air in the background. On the palate it is salty citrus fruit – quiet at first then intense and zingy – then salt and pepper that lasts a long time, mouth watering all the while. Really good stuff. Drinking it with salty pecorino cheese the fruitiness comes out.

A class wine full of flavour.

 

Tintilla 2013, Bodegas Luis Perez 

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A 100% Tintilla de Rota dry red wine by Bodegas Luis Perez (and the big brother of the Garum and Samaruco, both of which I also enjoyed).

Tintilla is one of the traditional grapes from the region that until recently had all but disappeared but is now making a strong comeback. It is said to be an Andalucian cousin of Graciano, but while I am not that familiar with Graciano whenever I have come across Tintilla in dry wines it has reminded me of shiraz/syrah (indeed once I tried an unoaked Tintilla blind and thought it was a shiraz).

This is from vines planted on one of the great pagos of Jerez, Balbaina, and specifically from a vineyard named Calderin del Obispo (one of the two “Calderin” on this plan I guess) and has had 16 months in oak.

The resulting wine is a refined, elegant but tasty animal. It has the mineral quality – salinity even – of the other wines, but also beefy, peppery aromas (in the interest of full disclosure I was roasting a joint of beef as we drank this, so my mind may have one tracked a little). On the palate if has very refined blackberry fruit – maybe just a hint of bitterness – and again that salt and pepper and meatiness on the palate, a nice texture with a nice touch of acidity and a lovely fresh finish.

Like this very much – and it was brilliant with that beef too.

Don PX Convento Selección 1929

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Final wine of a fantastic lineup at Taberna Palo Cortado was this 1929 Don PX Convento Selección – an 87 year old single vintage wine no less. Unfortunately, it just didn’t quite match the spritely 85 year old that it followed, much less the youthful 61 year old before that.

In colour it was between a brownish black and a blackish brown. On the nose it was much sweeter, and while there were savoury notes they were not as spicey or as defined as on the earlier wines. On the palate it was extremely sweet – maybe the lack of spices made it seem much sweeter than the others – and although there was salinity it didn’t have the same balance.

Still a long, long, leathery, treacly monster, just not quite in the same class as its amazing brothers.

 

Fino 3 en rama del Puerto de Santa Maria

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The third of the 3 en rama Spring 2016 by Lustau, and this one really is cracking good. Again a fino with five years under flor, but this time aged in El Puerto De Santa Maria, which is said to have a slightly more moderate climate – perhaps better conditions for the flor year round -, more humidity and the benefit of sea air. 

I was looking forward to this since it was so good last year, and its almacenista cousin is also brilliant stuff, and this has comfortably lived up to the hype. 

The colour is a rich gold with just a hint of green to it. The nose is yeasty and has apples – not green but old yellow ones. In addition, and most distinctively, it has an amazing sea air component. Not just salty air and iodine but “rock pools”: wet seaweed left behind at the water’s edge. 

On the palate too it has a lovely full flavour to it. Nuts, granary bread, and vegetables, celery and rocket, then a salty fresh finish. 

A really class fino. Can’t decide if it is better six weeks or nine months old – either way I don’t think I would have it on the rack for nine months!

La Bota de Florpower 57 MMXII

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This is another of the wines that has been languishing amongst the drafts since I had it – a good few weeks ago now. As you can see from the photo we had this at dinner and as such I don’t have very clear notes. Nevertheless, I have a pretty strong recollection of the basic facts.

Picture the scene. We are four enthusiasts in a place with an excellent wine list, but the sommelier is on holiday. We have had the waiters in all sorts of difficulty with our wine orders all dinner, and with a pretty meaty dish coming and none other than the Bota de Palo Cortado Nº34 listed – a perfect accompaniment you would say –  it was duly ordered. The unfortunate waiter then disappeared for a good few minutes and, having presumably searched fruitlessly high and low in the cellar, reappeared with a wine that, while it may be many things, is certainly not a palo cortado. In his defense, he did a great job of appearing unconcerned and giving the impression that all “Equipo Navazos” wines are more or less interchangeable.  Frankly it could have gone either way – you keep these lads waiting 10 minutes for a glass of wine at your peril, and bringing the wrong one after a wait like that is a risky strategy – but fortunately we were just consumed with mirth and had it anyway.

I am glad we did because it proved to be excellent. It was a little difficult at first: maybe it was a little cold and the profile came across as overbalanced with minerals or even oxidated. But even in the time it took us to finish (and there were four thirsty travellers involved so not long) it seemed to grow in stature and flavour, and by the end I finally began to see the comparison that gets made with the white burgundies – crisp, defined, solid flavours and a lovely finish . (This is in fact something I have noticed a couple of times with these palomino wines – they may just need a bit of time to breathe first up.)

One of the best palomino white wines I have had and these are definitely growing on me.