145 Sherries - the most ever assembled at a UK tasting!
What a tasting! In the presence of the president of the Consejo Regulador, Don Beltran Domecq Williams, (for whom "Sherry is not just a vocation, it is a passion") and Graham Hines, (president of the Sherry Institute of Spain in London, and a fellow "aficionado") we assembled for a tasting of epic proportions.
The venue, the Imagination Gallery, just off Tottenham Court Road was an interesting choice, easy to reach and in a nice area, on a nice day. But it was on the top floor, and while there were great views over London, one had to cross a metal bridge to reach the tasting area which I felt was rather small as the tasting was full (160 people), so hopefully they wouldn't all come at once, or it would be chaotic. Luckily when Beltran Domecq did his two talks, there was more room at the tasting. Not that I wanted to miss the talks, but I could hear them anyway while tasting!
The wines were well laid out according to style and (roughly) in ascending order of weight and body, starting with the Manzanillas. It is very difficult to decide on the order for such a tasting. For example, the Manzanillas start delicate and fresh then work up the scale through Manzanilla Pasada (older, fuller, more oxidised) to Manzanilla Amontillada (virtually Amontillado, from Sanlucar). Then you have to double back to begin with the lighter Finos again and work your way up the scale, but one can taste in any order one likes, dotting about as required, so no trouble really.
Unfortunately there were no bodega representatives there to discuss the wines with, which I felt was a missed opportunity, but then it would have taken much longer to get through the wines. Luckily I had tasted many before, so was able to concentrate on the rest. And there were some beauties! The following were my highlights:
Manzanilla en rama Goya XL, Delgado Zuleta
La Bota de Fino Macharnudo No. 35, Equipo Navazos
La Bota de Palo Cortado No. 34, Equipo Navazos
Palo Cortado Viejo CP, Valdespino
Palo Cortado VORS, Bodegas Tradicion
Palo Cortado Vintage 1982, Gonzalez Byass
Oloroso Pata de Gallina 1/38, Lustau
Venerable PX VORS, Osborne
I can only say that it was a wonderful tasting and a great opportunity to taste some hard-to-obtain wines. Given the drastically reduced budget, it was a spectacular success which I hope repaid the enormous efforts which had been gone to. Roll on the next tasting!!
I wonder if the 'heavier' wines show better at this sort of tasting? Or is that just your preference?
ReplyDeleteI note you don't respond to comments. Why is that?