Deep amber with ruddy tints fading to yellow at the rim, viscous with pronounced legs.
Nose
Pure super-ripe aromatic grapey Moscatel, very raisiny with touches of caramel honey and toffee. Smells exactly as the bunches of grapes do as they dry out in the sun. Not at all woody but well aged.
Palate
Very sweet but a trace of acidity there, some grip too from small amounts of tannin, but overall unctuously sweet and joyfully flavoursome. Less sweet than most PX. Has a lovely open raisiny.texture, which lingers on the long grapey caramelly finish. Lovely.
Comments
Moscatel tends to be grown on the sandy coastal soils being less fussy than Palomino and PX. This wine is probably bought in by GC from Chipiona which specialises in Moscatel. The grape bunches are laid out in the sun for a couple of weeks or so to raisin ("Asoleo") in an ancient method still also used in Malaga and Montilla. Here the method is called "Pasil" and the only real difference is that the sandy soils on which the bunches are laid out (on finely meshed sheets of plastic) absorb more heat than the Albariza soils, radiating that heat so the grapes raisin a little more completely and quickly.
Price
£ 11.75 (half bottle) from Bon Vivant's Companion, Edinburgh
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