Amontillado Perpendicular 22%, Las Botas

Appearance

Attractive antique chestnut fading through amber to a green tinge at the rim, copper highlights.
Nose
It immediately smells old and complex with traces of oak along with some real refinement. There are lots of toasted nuts made crisper with a hint of volatile acidity, traces of tobacco, aromatic woods, incense and of course a hint of salinity, all balanced up with a gentle hint of almond in caramel. At this age many of the super subtle nuances have harmonised into a classic and charming bouquet.
Palate

The opening gambit is crisp and zippy with a refreshing acidity which helps accentuate the bones of the wine; nuts and salinity on a faintly oaky background. There can be no doubt this intense wine is from Sanlúcar. While assertive, it is fairly light and as it opens out more of its subtleties show themselves; faint notes of spices like vanilla and cinnamon with faint notes of toast and turron yema tostada. The finish is characterful, clean and almost eternal. Magnificent.

Comments

This is the second release of Perpendicular bottled (en rama) in December 2017 for Balandro Vinos consisting of 900 x 50cl bottles, and it is amazing. It comes from a selection from 6 butts which were originally in the bodega of the church of Santo Domingo, on the corner next to the Argüeso bodegas of Calle Mar in Sanlúcar, and was incorporated into the latter in the XIX century. Argüeso now belongs to Francisco Yuste. The wine has an average age of some 70 years and began life as Manzanilla, with no doubt many years under flor, reaching its alcoholic strength entirely naturally by concentration, without re-fortification. This release is a very different style from the first which was a superb 20 year old Jerez wine from Bodegas Urium.

Price
39 euros per 50cl bottle, La Tienda del Jerez

 

Amontillado Perpendicular 18%, Las Botas

Appearance

Mahogany fading to amber with copper glints and the faintest trace of green at the rim.
Nose
Attractive, fairly intense and unusual with a distinct note of bitter orange along with toasted hazelnuts and almonds and gentle spice notes like vanilla and cinnamon. There are all sorts of nuances like pipe tobacco and oak.
Palate
It starts off quite full but soon displays considerable elegance, being well rounded and dry yet without any aggressive tannin. That orange character is still there but the nuts come through as it develops on the palate. There is a passing note of antique furniture as it fades, long and elegant
Comments

This wine is from the first saca of 700 bottles which comes from Bodegas Urium in Jerez. It is a blend of varying proportions of wine with a long period of biological ageing from four selected butts in the firm's Amontillado solera, and has an average age of over 20 years. The wine is bottled unfiltered. The name Perpendicular alludes to the two types of ageing involved; biological and oxidative. The Las Botas range is the brainchild of sommelier Raul Villabrille and César Velazquez of Balandro Vinos in Sevilla. Their first releases have been extremely good and the project augurs very well.

Price
29.80 euros per 50cl, La Tienda del Jerez