Appearance
Bright pale strawy lemon yellow, good mousse, some decent, lasting bead.
Nose
Subtle and very gently aromatic with a slightly creamy character hints of apple tart and cream and a gentle floral note, even faint traces of honeysuckle, ginger and yeast . It gets more intriguing as the fizz dies down and a slight green note appears, from early-picked fruit one imagines.
Palate
Crisp, light and very fresh with notes of pastry and hints of apple, apricot and glacé fruits. It is very dry (no dosage) and has a lean clean mineral backbone, even a faint saltiness, and yet it has considerable elegance. Acidity is perfect and it has a long, clean gently fruity finish. The albariza soil really makes itself known with a slight chalky texture.
Comments
This was one of just 50 bottles produced, and made - most unusually - from the Gewürztraminer grape, a natural mutation descended from the Traminer, formerly known as Aminea. The vines are around 40 years old and are from the pago Añina. The wine is made in two ways; one by full Champagne method and this one by their take on the metodo ancestral where it is firstly fermented under dry ice in a half butt seasoned with Fino, and left there for a month or so with a thin layer of flor. It is then bottled with a carefully measured amount of unfermented must from PX grapes. These had been sunned for a couple of days and the must kept from fermenting by freezing. It gives about 25 g/l sugar which ferments out. After completion of bottle fermentation, the wine needs to undergo "remuage" or shaking and turning the bottle to loosen sediment and this (like everything else) is done by hand. A neat system has been devised using 5 coloured dots on bottom of bottle and each day it is turned to a set colour. Once the sediment is on the crown cap the bottle neck is frozen and a plug of sediment and ice is ejected on opening. Finally a proper cork and label are applied.
Price
20 euros, La Tienda del Jerez
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