NV TIO PEPE FINO ‘EN RAMA’ - RAW HIDE!

The bottling of Manzanilla and Fino in its raw state, ‘en rama’, has been one of the great developments in the world of Sherry in the past decade. For most of us, it is as close as we can get to tasting a wine direct from the solera.

It is particularly pleasing to see that large players such as Gonzalez Byass have embraced innovations such as this. Tio Pepe is always a good drink, notwithstanding the large volumes in which it is made. Tio Pepe ‘En Rama’ takes things to another level. It is a truly exciting wine, with notes of grilled hazelnuts, freshly baked sourdough bread and salty sea air. The added punch here is due to the wine being bottled in spring, when the layer of flor is at its thickest.

This is a new wine to the Australian market. Let’s hope sommeliers and consumers embrace it, as it is utterly delicious. More please!

NV TIO PEPE FINO ‘EN RAMA’
Producer: Gonzalez-Byass
Variety: Sherry
Region: Jerez, Spain
ABV: 15.0%
Closure: Screw cap
Retail Price: $45.00
Date tasted: 9 September 2017

Tasting Note:
Bright golden yellow. Engaging and alluring nose of grilled nuts, freshly baked sourdough, distinctive saline note. Full in body, intensely flavoured, great drive and power. Brine, grilled hazelnuts and sourdough. Delicious and a perfect match for Serrano ham.
Score: 17.5/20

NV SANCHEZ AYALA ‘GABRIELA’ MANZANILLA’ - OH SHERRY!

Not much needs to be said about this wine other than it is Manzanilla that does what it says on the label. At $20 per 375ml bottle, it’s the sort of wine that you want to rip out of the fridge, pour in the glass and sip back. Bring on the olives and boquerones!

NV SANCHEZ AYALA ‘GABRIELA’ MANZANILLA’
Producer: Sanchez Ayala
Variety: Sherry
Region: Jerez, Spain
ABV: 15.0%
Closure: Natural cork
Retail Price: $20.00
Date tasted: 26 August 2017

Tasting Note:
Bright lemon yellow. Creamed honey, sourdough, ozone/sea breeze. Light, brisk and easy. Round on the palate. Easy going, touch of lemon zest, sourdough bread and grilled almonds.
Score: 16/20

NV EL SIERRA MAESTRO FINO - I SHOULD LIVE IN SALT

El Maestro Sierra is a lesser known Jerez-based bodega founded in 1830. It was originally established by Jose Antonio Sierra, a cooper who made barrels for Gonzalez Byass. He eventually succeeded in his mission and established the bodega as one of the region’s leading almacenistas, supplying wine to larger houses.

These days, El Sierra Maestro bottles under its own name, and its Sherries are worth hunting down. At under $30 for a 750ml bottle, the Fino represents exceptional value for money. It possesses an intensely briny/saline personality overlaid by fresh sourdough. There’s lots to like here.

NV EL SIERRA MAESTRO FINO
Producer: Bodegas El Sierra Maestro
Variety: Sherry
Vintage: Non-vintage
Region: Jerez, Spain
ABV: 15.0%
Closure: Natural cork
Retail Price: $27.00
Date tasted: 24 December 2015

Tasting Note:
Bright lemon yellow. Attractive nose of freshly baked sourdough, ozone, brine/fish rope, honeyed/nutty notes. Bone dry and limpid, saline, suggestions of brioche/sourdough. Finishes long and fine. Delicious and exceptional value for money.
Score: 17/20

NV DELGADO ZULETA LA GOYA MANZANILLA XL EN RAMA - I'M SO EXCITED!

Delgado Zuleta’s La Goya is a solid, spritely everyday Manzanilla. Drunk fresh, it is uncomplicated and lively. La Goya Manzanilla XL En Rama, smartly presented in a 500ml is an altogether more serious wine. For lovers of Fino and Manzanilla, it doesn’t come much better than this. ‘Nuff said! Buy a bottle and enjoy.

NV DELGADO ZULETA LA GOYA MANZANILLA XL EN RAMA
Producer: Delgado Zuleta
Variety: Palomino Fino
Vintage: Non-vintage
Region: Jerez, Spain
ABV: 15.0%
Closure: Natural cork
Retail Price: N/a
Date tasted: 21 September 2015

Tasting Note:
Bright golden yellow. Immediately complex nose of freshly baked sourdough, sea-spray/ozone, brine, freshly lemon zest, green apple, creamed honey and brioche. Medium bodied, fine, compact and elegant. Superbly balanced palate – everything is in the right place – every bit as complex on the palate as the nose with a similar profile. Outstanding.
Score: 18/20

NV EQUIPO NAVAZOS LA BOTA DE FINO 54 - EVERYONE'S A WINNER

We have looked at a number of Equipo Navazos releases on these pages and every single one has been a winner. Expensive they may be in the context of Sherry (which is massively undervalued as a category), they are relative bargains in their own right. They rank among some of the most complex and individualistic wines being released on the market today.

La Bota de Fino 54 is more than a run of the mill Fino; for one, the colour is deeper. Briny, saline ozone notes confirm that we are in Fino territory, but there are many other layers to this wine – grilled nuts, beeswax, acacia, orange zest and more……and more.

This is a wine that may not suit all tastes, and not everyone will ‘get’. For those happy to go along for the ride, the journey is more than worth it.

NV EQUIPO NAVAZOS LA BOTA DE FINO 54
Producer: Equipo Navazos
Variety: Sherry
Vintage: Non-vintage
Region: Jerez, Spain
ABV: 15.0%
Closure: Natural cork
Retail Price: $75.00
Date tasted: 8 August 2015

Tasting Note:
Golden amber. Hugely complex nose of beeswax/creamed honey, acacia, ozone, orange zest, candied ginger. Dry, lots going on – too much to nail down on paper! Quite superb. A real mouthful. Deserves to be the centrepiece of a meal, not just an aperitif that is drunk and forgotten. Superb.
Score: 18.5+/20

NV SEPPELTSFIELD AGED FLOR APERA DP116 - GOLD

No producer in Australia boasts a greater heritage for fortified wines than Seppeltsfield. Although it has been traded twice in the past 15 years and fortified wines are highly unfashionable, it continues to produce wines of exceptional quality.

In terms of style, Aged Flor Apera DP116 akin to an Amontillado. It is a serious, intellectual wine, bone-dry and hauntingly complex. It is a wine that arrests the senses and needs no accompaniment. Kudos to the team at Seppeltsfield for continuing to fly the flag for fortified wines. This is an exceptional wine that deserves to be ranked among the very best wines made in Australia.

NV SEPPELTSFIELD AGED FLOR APERA DP116
Producer: Seppeltsfield
Variety: Sherry
Vintage: Non-vintage
Region: Trentino, Italy
ABV: 21.5%
Closure: Screw cap
Retail Price: $40.00
Date tasted: 22 June 2015

Tasting Note:
Bright golden amber. Lifted bouquet of honey, freshly polished furniture, leather and grilled nuts. Touch of sweetness up-front, moving quickly to dry, leather, almonds, creamed honey. Lively acidity on the finish. Measures up well against benchmarks from Jerez.
Score: 18/20

NV EQUIPO NAVAZOS FINO EN RAMA - EYE OF THE STORM

Although Sherry has undergone a revival in the past decade, it remains undervalued. Although it doesn’t own a bodega, Equipo Navazos is releasing some of the best examples of Sherry, as previously detailed on these pages.

What sets Equipo Navazos apart is the pungent intensity of its wines. The latest release of Equipo Navazos Fino En Rama is no exception. It is intensely briny and saline, a tidal wave of a wine in bottle. In the mouth, it literally arrests the senses. This is an exceptional bottling and a bargain at a mere $25 per 375ml bottle.

NV EQUIPO NAVAZOS FINO EN RAMA
Producer: Equipo Navazos
Variety: Sherry
Vintage: Non-vintage
Region: Jerez, Spain
Alcohol: 15.0%
Closure: Screw cap
Retail Price: $25.00
Date tasted: 13 June 2015

Tasting Note:
Bright yellow with a distinct amber hue. Direct nose of briny sea air/ozone, orange zest, bruised apple and grapefruit pith. Assertively dry, saline. Life affirming stuff – doesn’t just tease the palate but wakes it up. Brilliant.
Score: 18/20

NV VALDESPINO ‘INOCENTE’ FINO - I'M NOT THAT INNOCENT!

Valdespino is one of the great names of Sherry, though it perhaps suffers a touch from being taken for granted in this exciting category. If ‘Inocente’ Fino is anything to go by, Valdespino is very much ‘on form’. This is a benchmark Fino, seemingly from a very fresh and well stored (375ml) bottle.

It delivers everything one could want from a good Fino – lively aromatics, a saline palate that whets the palate. While it may lack the marked intensity and full throttle pungency of wines from the Equipo Navazos stable it more than makes up with sheer drinkability. Delicious! Need one say more?!

NV VALDESPINO ‘INOCENTE’ FINO
Variety: Sherry - Fino
Vintage: Non-vintage
Region: Jerez, Spain
ABV: 15.0%
Closure: Natural cork
Retail Price: $24.00
Date tasted: 24 May 2015

Tasting Note:
Pale lemon yellow with a slight haze. Fresh nose of green apple, sea spray and sourdough. Medium bodied, lively and briny. Lovely palate of lemon zest, apple and salty bread. Clean, fresh, vibrant and well balanced. Benchmark example of Fino.
Score: 17.5/20