Thursday 2 May 2019

Fino Caberrubia 16%, Bodegas Luis Pérez

Appearance
Bright yellowy brassy gold with golden highlights.
Nose
Fresh and very attractive with all sorts of interesting nuances. The fact that the strength was achieved by asoleo gives a riper, much fruitier aroma of stewed apple and perhaps a trace of apricot, enhanced by the much less than usual aldehydic bitterness from flor which tends to do away with fruitiness. It is quite like a Palomino table wine only fuller and stronger with very faint strawy oxidative notes.
Palate
Fuller, fruitier and rounder than the yeasty flor-driven Fino we are accustomed to, and initial suggestions of sweetness are soon dispelled as the chalky albariza makes its drying presence felt aided by a trace of flor, giving the wine a dry texture, a structure even, and certainly length. The overriding impression is one of wine made the old fashioned way, in a style we are no longer used to, but which beautifully complements those currently available, showing just how interesting Sherry is.
Comments
This is the latest Sherry from Bodegas Luis Pérez and it is not only excellent but seriously interesting. Up till now Willy Pérez has been releasing this unfortified Fino Barajuela as a vintage (añada) wine, but this is a cabeceo (blend) of four vintages (2013-16 inc.) but blended rather like Champagne in the tasting room to create something new and different rather than using a solera. The average age of this wine (depending on proportions in the blend) is 4.5 years, similar to many Finos. The Palomino vines, which are around 50 years old with very low yields, are in the Barajuela vineyard in the highest point of the Viña El Corregidor which is in the middle of the pago Carrascal. Barajuela is the type of albariza found here, consisting of thin laminates of fossilied diatoms. The grapes are briefly sunned to concentrate the sugars and avoid the need for fortification and the must is fermented in butts. Ageing is static with only a small space allowed for flor so it can´t dominate the flavour and allows some fruit through. As Willy says "menos velo y más suelo" - less flor and more soil. Only 3812 bottles and 60 magnums have been produced, or a little under 3,000 litres, or around five butts. The wine was bottled en rama.
Price
19.85 Licores Corredera



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