Fino Delicado 15.5%, Gonzalez Byass

Appearance
Light bright strawy gold, legs.
Nose
Quite full and forthcoming yet very refined with integrated aromas of relaxed flor, almond, trace autolysis, a slight hint of quince-like fruit, dry petals, sheer depth and ultra-fine oxidation. Amazingly fresh for a Fino of some age.
Palate
Very fresh and clean, a certain fruitiness balances tantalisingly with hints of bitter almond and yeasty flor giving a light tanginess. Tight, complex and supremely elegant, with good length. Quite delicious.
Comments
Very well named, a remarkably delicate wine for its age. This one caught me on the hop. I hadn't heard of it till I found it in Waitrose today. There is no mention of it on the Gonzalez Byass website, nor have I seen any trade press announcements.
According to the rather uninformative back label it is "a limited production dry Sherry, carefully selected from long-aged casks of Fino still maintaining a good layer of Flor, resulting in a rare wine with exceptional finesse and delicacy of aroma." At 15.5% it must have some age, (8-12 years?) but all that gives it away is its sheer complexity.
The name "Delicado" was once, of course, the name for the Croft Fino, which is not commonly seen any more. GB bought the Sherry division of Croft back in 2001, and seem to have only done anything with Croft Original pale cream - certainly Croft's biggest seller (and possible replacement for GB's San Domingo?). Could this then be wine from Croft soleras (once Gilbey and looked after by GB till Rancho Croft was built)? Could it be en rama? I doubt that, but...
Perhaps somebody from Gonzalez Byass could let us all know. Anyway Antonio Flores the GB capataz (head winemaker) has done it again with the quality, and GB have done it again with the innovation, (though there's plenty scope for more with 417 brand names registered to the company). Congratulations!

Price

£ 13.99 (50cl) from Waitrose