Forlong Rosado 2018 14%, Bodega Forlong

Appearance

Very pale orangey pink, onion skin perhaps with very pale coppery gold highlights.

Nose

Soft, light, fresh and delicate with traces of the hallmark blackcurrant aroma of Cabernet along with hints of raspberry and strawberry sweeties, perhaps also traces of sherbet and rose petals. Lovely.

Palate

Delicate and refreshing, clean and remarkably tasty with all those fruits mentioned already and perfectly balanced acidity making it quite soft,  and extremely elegant. There is a faint saline note at the end which gives away its origins and it has good length and considerable charm.

Comments

This delightful rosado comes from Alejandro Narváez and Rocío Áspera who are based near El Puerto de Santa  María at the Finca El Olivar de Forlón on the fringes of the pago Balbaina. It was once a Sherry vineyard owned by Matthiesen Furlong, hence the name. They are always coming up with interesting, beautifully made wines, and everything is done by hand. Anyway this wine is made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon grown, along with Merlot and some Tintilla in four hectares of vineyard planted some 50 years ago known as the Finca La Greduela near Jerez, on albariza soil which they rent and farm organically. The grapes are harvested manually, and after an extremely light pressing, mostly just by gravity, the must is fermented in a stainless steel tank at a very low temperature (15°). After fermentation the wine is transferred, lees and all, to another tank where the lees are stirred weekly over two months. The wine is then allowed to settle and is bottled with no stabilisation. Very pale rosados like this are known as "rosados de lágrima" (tear) as the juice is expelled slowly slowly from the grapes rather like tears. They are much tastier than they look.

Price

8.70 euros, Licores Corredera

Burbuja Blanc de Blancs 2017 12.5%, Bodega Forlong

Appearance
Pale strawy gold with yellowy gold highlights and good mousse with a gentle bead.
Nose
Fresh, forthcoming and fruity; naturally the appleyness of the Palomino predominates, but there are aromas of the orchard and a meadow with wild flowers and hints of pear and a trace of sweeties. There is a clean natural air to it making the whole most attractive.
Palate
There is just a hint of residual sweetness which balances the fizz (carbonic acid gas or CO2) and adds to the fruitiness yet the wine finishes dry. There are lots of orchard fruit notes and there is a certain attractive weight or presence to the wine, while the acidity, which is comparatively low is perfect, just enough and the length is good and the fizz lasts, leaving a strong appetite for another glass - or two.
Comments
Burbuja is the Spanish word for "bubble" and this is Forlong's latest in an ever growing list of really exciting wines: a sparkling wine, and a good one at that. Their 11 hectare vineyard lies in the pago Balbaina Alta near El Puerto de Santa Maria and is farmed organically, verging on bio-dynamically, so the wine is certified organic and has no added sulphur. It is 100% Palomino and comes in hand-numbered bottles - only 530 of them, I'm afraid. The French term "Blanc de Blancs" originates in Champagne where the great majority of wines are made using both red and white grapes, so they came up with the term to differentiate a white wine made only from white grapes from a white wine made only from red grapes: a "Blanc de Noirs". Burbuja is made totally by hand using the metodo ancestral, the original and simplest method which dates back some 500 years, whereby the wine is simply bottled half way through fermentation which then continues in the bottle till the remaining yeast expires. The pressure will obviously be lower than that found in the much more complicated Champagne Method (Metodo Tradicional) wines, and there may be some light sediment and residual sugar; it all depends on when the wine was bottled, but in skilled hands it is amazing how good these wines can be - and indeed are.
Price
19.00 euros, Licores Corredera

Mon Amour 2016 13.5%, Bodega Forlong

Appearance

Paleish bright lemony gold with golden reflections.

Nose

Very attractive, fragrant yet serious. There is plenty of fresh Palomino fruit with stewed apple, pear and hints of glacé fruits, lemon perhaps, even a tropical, floral note, and the oak is very subdued - effect rather than flavour. There is a trace of camomile and a creamy, almost buttery note along with a feeling of gentle texture. It is still very young and more bottle age will surely reveal more.

Palate

Very fresh and bursting with Palomino character - and a bit more. It is perfectly balanced and extremely elegant with all sorts of subtleties: traces of pineapple and banana, lemon fondant and apple with a faint saline mineral note along with a gentle grape skin feel. Long clean finish, lovely.
Comments

Another lovely wine from this bodega which always seems to have something new and exciting. This is made from 100% Palomino grown organically in the historic Forlong vineyard in the pago Balbaina Baja near El Puerto de Santa María. The grape bunches were picked at night to keep them cooler and sorted by hand, and on arrival at the bodega they were put in a cool chamber for 24 hours to reduce the temperature further - down to 5°. Next they were sorted again and de-stemmed before going to a pneumatic press under dry ice to minimise oxidation. After pressing, the must went to a rapid cooling tank where the temperature was held at 3° for 24 hours for decantation. It was then filled into used French oak barrels for fermentation. After fermentation the barrels were topped up and sealed, only being disturbed by some bâtonnage every 2 or 3 months over a period of 10 months to increase complexity by maximising contact with fine lees. Total production was 1460 numbered bottles. It took a lot of effort to make this wine, and it was well worth it.

Price
17.50 euros, Licores Corredera

Rosado Cabernet 2015 13%, Bodega Forlong

Appearance

Pale to mid coppery onion skin pink with orangey gold highlights.

Nose

Forthcoming, fleshy and full of berry fruit with distinct notes of cherry and raspberry, there are also attractive traces of glacé fruit, rose petals and a hint of minerality from the albariza presumably.

Palate

Soft, full, fruity and beautifully balanced with lots of ripe yet tangy berry fruit and a gentle texture. It is super fresh, tasty and dangerously easy to drink yet has surprising complexity and length.

Comments

This charming rosado is made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes grown organically in albariza soil in the Forlong vineyard near El Puerto de Santa Maria. The grapes are picked manually and comparatively late so as to avoid the green pepper/ asparagus notes Cabernet can have if not perfectly ripe. This also makes any tannins softer. They are selected both in the vineyard and on arrival at the winery. The must is fermented till the desired colour is achieved and racked into a separate tank where fermentation continues at very low temperature (@13C) taking over a month, with weekly batonnage (lees stirring). Once the fermentation is complete the wine is clarified only by natural decantation and bottled en rama. As always, the label is a classic, designed by Victoria Cerezo Doello, and depicts presumably the Mad March hare and the notice above its head reads "En el Pais de las Maravillas" or In Wonderland.

Price

7.60 euros, Licores Corredera

Petit Forlong 2014 14.5%, Bodega Forlong

Appearance

Dense black cherry with only a trace of red in the tight pink rim, legs.

Nose

Beautifully ripe blackcurrant and bramble nose with noticeable and open texture, rich plump, bright and fruity with very little apparent oak but slight traces of smoke, red fruit and rubber from the Syrah nicely balanced with jam from the Merlot and tight black fruit from the Tintilla.

Palate

Quite full bodied and well structured with very good texture, very ripe tannins, lots of fruit and great length. It really shows the quality of wine that Cadiz can produce.

Comments

Incredibe value for money, but as with all wines from this excellent bodega, in rather short supply. It has no DO, probably because it would be too much hassle for a small bodega, but it simply doesn't matter, the wine has great integrity. It is made from 60% Syrah, 30% Merlot and 10% Tintilla grown organically on albariza soil near El Puerto de Santa Maria in what was once a Sherry vineyard. The must is fermented in tinajas and aged in oak barrels for six months before being bottled unfiltered.

Price

7.50 euros from Licores Corredera