The Palmas from Gonzalez Byass

I've just posted my tasting notes on the four Palma wines released by Gonzalez Byass last November, and I'm hoping very much to be able to afford to buy the 2012 releases... Quite apart from being excellent and interesting wines, they represent an exciting innovation on the marketplace, for which GB must be heartily congratulated. It is only Sherries of real quality which can carry the standard for Jerez, and these are certainly  fine examples which show emphatically just how good and how unique Sherry is.

What is most interesting is that one can study the wine's metamorphosis from a six year-old Fino through to a forty-five year-old Amontillado, observing all the subtle changes that happen. The wines are selected from the solera, 1st criadera, 2nd criadera and 3rd criadera, showing one what is happening inside the butts themselves. All the dead yeast cells on the bottom of the butts start to add autolytic nuances to the Fino - those traces of Marmite - which, with the bitter almondy Flor aromas give Finos their identity. This simply becomes more concentrated and complex over time. By ten years the Flor has started to die off, the oxidative process has begun, and levels of glycerol, acidity and alcohol slowly rise as there is no longer any Flor to consume them. Oxidation and age add further nuances, as does the fact that the wines are bottled "en rama" and have thus lost nothing in the way of flavour and aroma which stabilisation causes. Seek out these wines, buy them if you can - or share costs with friends - but whatever you do, you must try them!