Tuesday 18 October 2016

Lacum Listán Dulce 2014 18%, Gabriel Raya

Appearance
Paleish amber with orangey-golden highlights, legs.
Nose
Full with obvious sweetness and a slight oxidative note from the wood ageing, almost like toffee apples. You can small the pulp of the super ripe grapes and even a trace of pasification as if they had been dried in the sun for at least a short time, but as far as I know they were ripened on the vine. There are also faint herbal and honey traces giving a complex and interesting nose.
Palate
Rich and textured, sweet Palomino. It is amazing how much flavour Gabriel has got from his grapes and it offers a whole new dimension to the Palomino, so far rarely explored. There is enough acidity to balance the sweetness and it provides terrific length and versatility with food.
Comments
Most table wines from Cádiz are lower strength and dry, so this one is unusual. The winemaking technique is "dulce natural" where the must is fortified to stop it fermenting so the sweetness comes from the natural sugar in super ripe grapes. Listán is a synonym for Palomino, and the grapes come from albariza soil in Sanlúcar's Pago Miraflores. His friend Francisco Yuste lent Gabriel bodega space to make the wine and age it in American oak butts for some 8 months before bottling with minimal filtration. This is pure, sweet Palomino and it is delicious especially as an aperitif, with pâté
or after dinner, suitably chilled. Only 800 bottles were produced and made in honour of his granddaughter Montse. Oh, and it comes in a cardboard box. Please don't be put off by fashion: sweet wine is good!
Price
About 15 euros per 50 cl bottle from La Casa del Jerez in Jerez


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