Fino en rama Peña del Aguila 15%, Bodegas César Florido

Appearance

Pale straw gold with golden glints.

Nose

Most attractive nose, slightly more suggestive of Manzanilla than Fino, but then they are Sanlúcar grapes and the wine is aged on the Atlantic coast. There is a fresh maritime character with traces of meadow herbs and camomile, the flor is certainly there but elegantly restrained and a minute hint of oxidation adds to the complexity. It is beautifully balanced and fresh.

Palate

There is plenty to chew on with a lovely yeasty, slightly bitter character yet acidity is fairly low giving a softness and roundness and a slight trace of butteriness from the lees. This is delicious, as good as any Fino or Manzanilla.

Comments

Here is one to watch out for. My personal view is that this bodega is outstanding and deserves better recognition. It is not only an extremely interesting bodega but they are a delightful family with lovely wines. If you buy an upmarket Moscatel from a bodega in Jerez, you can be pretty sure it was made here. Chipiona is the home of Moscatel and it is the finest around, but the more familiar Sherry style wines are also produced, yet despite their quality they are not included in the DO Sherry because Chipiona is in the production zone not the crianza zone, and so few people know them. Peña del Aguila is an old brand which they are rescucitating for a range of fine Sherry style wines which includes a superb Palo Cortado. Anyway this lovely wine is made from 100% Palomino from old vines in the pago Miraflores - which also supplies Manzanilla grapes. This Fino runs through 5 criaderas and a solera (400 butts in total) in the Cherra bodega only 25 metres from the Atlantic and César makes a selection of just one butt (in this case number 2), the best of all, which provides some 1,200 half bottles making it unique and special.

Price

14.00 euros per half bottle ex bodega

Moscatel Pasas 15%, César Florido

Appearance

Deep transparent walnut mahogany to amber at the rim, legs.

Nose

Intense aroma of sun dried Moscatel grapes exactly as they smell as they arrive at the bodega after sunning, obvious sweetness with notes of Earl Grey tea, dried figs and dates and that characteristic Moscatel grapiness with a hint of citrus. On top of that there are aromas of crianza, the open texture, concentration and oxidation from long wood ageing.

Palate

Full, viscous and richly textured grape pulp beautifully balanced with gentle refreshing acidity giving an attractive tang which also balances out the oxidative and slight caramel notes. This is deeply flavoured and voluptuous, long years of ageing having added complexity and the alcoholic strength is just right. It is difficult to put down the glass.

Comments

Made from super ripe Moscatel grapes which are sunned for between two and three weeks on the open coastal sand in an area called the "pasil" during which time they lose nearly 70% of their water giving immense concentration of flavour and richness in natural sugars. Fermentation is allowed up to a point before the wine is fortified and then aged in solera for about 8 years. Moscatel de pasas is the most complex type of Moscatel and the most expensive to produce given the incredibly low yields, in a similar way to PX, but has its own really characteristic flavour. This is THE Moscatel from the best bodega, and it is in demand from other bodegas to supply their soleras.

Price

About 17 euros

Moscatel Especial 17.5%, Bodegas César Florido

Appearance
Deep and opaque ebony-black walnut brown to deep amber at the rim, legs.
Nose
Fairly intense with a pronounced Moscatel aroma of Indian tea, a trace of citrus and concentrated grape with a caramel note from the arrope. You can smell the rich open texture and concentration from the oxidation of barrel ageing.
Palate
Rich, full, unctuous and textured with notes of caramel, orange and raisin. Despite the concentration it is beautifully balanced and fresh with a gentle acidity leaving a long clean memory on the palate.
Comments
From the leading bodega in Chipiona, the home of Moscatel, this delicious wine is made from grapes over-ripened on the vine and fermented briefly to around 2% alcohol. Arrope, a syrup made from boiling down Moscatel grape juice is added for more depth and the blend is fortified and aged for over one year in solera. The result is a highly textured and complex sweet wine with great depth of flavour and character, a true speciality of Chipiona, and yes, especial - it can boast 91 Peñin points.

Price
About 9 euros

Moscatel Dorado 17.5%, Bodegas César Florido

Appearance

Deep bright burnished gold with legs.

Nose

Perfectly ripe zippy yet luscious almost honeyed Moscatel nose with an attractive freshness and lots of grapey fruit and slight hints of tea, all in perfect harmony.

Palate

Lots of juicy Moscatel flavour and enough acidity to balance the sweetness giving an attractive tang which prevents cloying during the long finish. This is delicious.

Comments

This classic Moscatel is made from overripe grapes and fortified to retain the natural grape sugars. It is then aged for over a year in a solera system. It is the youngest of the Moscateles produced by César Florido, the leading bodega in Chipiona, which is itself the leading area of production, and is delicious almost any time when served chilled. My family had an elderly cook from Cádiz who insisted she never drank, but who always enjoyed a glass of Moscatel de Chipiona!

Price

About 8 euros.

30.7.15 More Awards for Sherry

In the III edition of the wine competition “Catatalentos”, open for the first time to fortified wines, three Sherries won awards. Manzanilla Maruja from Juan Piñero took the crianza biológica award while the crianza oxidative went to Palo Cortado Leonor from González Byass and the sweet went to Moscatel Pasas from César Florido. The event is organised by the chemicals giant BASF who want to showcase the quality and variety of Spanish wines. Interestingly the winning wine were chosen in a blind tasting by the bodegueros, oenologists and growers themselves.

Juan Pinero receives his award (foto:diariojerez)

Bodegas: Cesar Florido

This old and interesting family firm, in the trade since the XVIII century, was founded in 1887, being the oldest surviving bodega in Chipiona and is one of only two non-cooperative bodegas in the town. Once, Chipiona had dozens of bodegas but now there are two plus the Cooperativa Catolica Agricola. Most Chipiona wine – mainly Moscatel - is sold to the big bodegas, but Florido bottle their own, or sell in bulk. They specialise in Moscatel de Alejandria. Chipiona is the perfect place for the Moscatel which grows happily on the fine sandy soils close to the Atlantic coast south of Sanlucar. This sand has meant that the vines have not needed to be grafted against Phylloxera.

The firm, run by 5^th generation Cesar Florido, buys in some grapes, but they mainly come from 21 hectares of family-owned vineyards whose vines are anywhere between 15 and 50 years old. Grapes which are to be sun dried are simply laid out on the sand without the usual esparto grass mats or sheets of plastic. The sand is dry enough to avoid any risk of rot.

They have three bodegas, all situated in the old centre of Chipiona: Calle Padre Lerchundi is where they have the winemaking facilities, offices and bottling; the bodegas in Calle Castillo and Calle Ladislao Carrascosa contain ageing wines. All have the traditional "patio bodeguero". One can buy wine at each of the bodegas at their despachos de vino. Sales are largely domestic, but they do export, principally to the USA but also to the UK.

The wines:

Fino Cesar: made from Chipiona, Balbaina and Miraflores grapes, at least 3 years old from 62 butt solera. All the other wines are aged in bocoyes - butts of 40 arrobas rather than the usual 30.

Oloroso Seco Cruz del Mar: made from pago Balbaina grapes and aged in solera for 12 years

Peña del Aguila Palo Cortado 20%: very limited quantities, solera aged for 38 years

Cream Cruz del Mar: at least 5 years old, blended with Oloroso and Moscatel

Moscatel Pasas: The top of the Moscatel range, made from Moscatel grapes sun-dried for 15-20 days (which means a 50% loss in grape weight) giving a huge increase in relative sugars, aged in solera for up to 9 years

Moscatel Dorado 15% (17.5 for export): Mistela made from super-ripe but not sun dried grapes aged for one year in wood

Moscatel Especial 18%: Mistela as above but with added arrope for complexity and aged for one year in wood

While Chipiona is in the zona de produccion it is not in the zona de crianza, so the wines don't qualify for DO Sherry, but they are still monitored by the Consejo. Moscatel de Chipiona has long had a fine reputation of its own, and this is THE bodega in the town.

Address: Calle Padre Lerchundi, 35-37, 11550 Chipiona, Cadiz

Telephone: (+34) 956 371 285

Web: www.bodegasflorido.com

Visits? Yes, by previous appointment