Thursday 1 March 2018

Mirabrás 2016 13.5%, Barbadillo

Appearance
Deep bright straw gold with golden highlights.
Nose
Serious, with  lots of nuances; fruity ones like apple - even a faint cider-like hint, herbal ones like camomile and fresh straw, traces of flor and a gentle sweeter, almost honey-like tone possibly from the asoleado. Not far removed from Manzanilla with its light marine notes, yet fruitier and with less flor and alcohol. And there is a certain weight to it. Very attractive.
Palate
Tangy apple,bitter hints of flor and a saline note instantly give away its origins and grape variety. There is also a slightly chalky mineral feel and a decent level of acidity which give it a decent bite and some of the classic Sanlucar wildness and probably some bottle ageing potential, especially if the 2014 is anything to go by. Both delicious and interesting.
Comments
The wine is named after the Mirabrás which is a style of Flamenco associated with Sanlúcar, hence the label design. The wine itself is even more interesting, however. It is made the old fashioned way from 100% old vine (45 years old) Palomino grown in the firm's Cerro de Leyes vineyard which is part of their larger Finca Santa Lucia. The grapes are sunned briefly before fermentation using natural yeast in toneles seasoned with Manzanilla. It remains for some 14 months on its lees, without batonnage, in a mix of the same toneles and some tanks where flor is allowed to develop, but to a small extent as the toneles are filled "a tocadedos". It was bottled without filtration in December 2017 and a total of just over 5,000 bottles were available.
Price
16,95 euros, De Albariza




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