Manzanilla pago Callejuela Añada 2014 16%, Viña Callejuela

Appearance
Bright clean mid gold with golden highlights.
Nose

Fresh and fairly intense with all the classic Manzanilla hallmarks: almost steely fresh saline sea air, hints of fresh herbs, esparto, olive brine, sourdough and of course flor, but while this is slightly muted by static ageing it still gives verve and balance to the wine. There are also the faintest almost buttery oxidative notes which give more complexity than one could expect of a solera wine of this age.

Palate

Full and well developed, it starts out fresh, crisp and tangy and soon the complexity starts to come through. It really grows on the palate and has much more to offer than a solera wine with a similar average age. It has greater depth too coming from the concentration the wine undergoes without refreshment. There are very subtle oxidative or rancio notes which, together with the forgoing make the wine remarkably complex for its age, while still being a Manzanilla, and not far from a Manzanilla Pasada. It is very dry yet rounded with a slightly chalky texture and great length. 

Comments

This beautiful wine is one of a very interesting new range of 3 wines called Soleras de Almacenista from the Blanco brothers of Viña Callejuela. It strikes me as an odd name to choose given that the wines are vintage and have not been through a solera. Also the labels refer to them as "sobretablas" but I would have thought they were a little too old for that. Be that as it may, since they own vineyard in 3 pagos (Callejuela in Sanlúcar, Añina, between Sanlúcar and Jerez, and Macharnudo near Jerez) they have made a wine from each one from the 2014 vintage in exactly the same way so the only difference between them is the vineyard. They were then aged statically in Sanlúcar, and without the regular refreshment provided by a solera the wines develop more quickly, so in order to retain their biological character they need to be bottled comparatively early - this one on 6/5/18 to be exact, so they have just under 4 years of ageing. Static ageing explains the 16% alcohol content. This wine was classified as a Palma, a mature and complex biologically aged wine.

Price
26.50 per 50 cl, Licores Corredera