Wednesday 3 October 2018

Amontillado Campero 18.5%, Vinicola Soto

Appearance
Fairly deep mahogany fading to amber with copper highlights.
Nose
Quite full and nutty with a faint bitterness and traces of oak. There are toasted almonds and hazelnuts and a faint cinder toffee note, and more than a hint of Oloroso, giving it a slightly odd but not unpleasant lean side and a generous side at the same time.
Palate
Full, dry, and remarkably similar to the nose, but given the likely average age of the wine it could do with a touch less alcohol. The Oloroso character comes through as well, giving it the body (and flavour) a fairly young Amontillado wouldn't have. Nonetheless, it is more than drinkable.
Comments
Vinicola Soto was founded in 1771 as José de Soto and earned a fine reputation, but unfortunately no longer really exists as anything more than a brand name, thanks to its being taken over by Nueva Rumasa in 1989.  In around 2000 it was merged with Garvey and stocks from both firms were moved to the huge new purpose built bodega called the Complejo Bodeguero Bellavista on the Jerez ring road. At least they had a good oenologist: Luis Arroyo Felizes, but he wisely left when Nueva Rumasa went bust in 2011 and established his own bodega: Bodegas Arfe. Garvey was run (down) by the receivers for years and much good wine was sold off until it was bought in January 2017 by Grupo Emperador. De Soto is now just a sous-marque of Garvey, but still uses the famous old Campero (countryman) brand name for a range of wines which are now destined more for foreign supermarkets.
Price
5.75 Licores Corredera


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