Palo Cortado 19%, Bodegas González Obregón

Appearance

Deep copper and amber tinted mahogany, legs.

Nose

Very nutty with toasted almond and some walnut, some oak and traces of dried fruit and cinnamon which all comes together to give a complex, characterful bouquet of good Oloroso with an up front crisp Amontillado edge. 

Palate

Full and dry, with lots of nuts, that hint of oak and a trace of tobacco now. As it opens out it swings from Oloroso to Amontillado and back again making it not only entertaining but delicious with a long nutty finish with just a trace of warm spice and exotic woods. 

Comments

This bodega deserves to be much better known. Surprisingly not much is written about it in books on Sherry, but it is an amazing place. It is tiny but full of character and the wines are excellent - though in rather short supply, especially this Palo Cortado. After all the bodega houses a mere 200 butts in total, and two of their wines are supplied to Lustau for their Almacenista range, though not this one. So the solera is tiny and only a few hundred bottles are released annually. At a guess, it is about 15-20 years old.

Price

18 Euros ex bodega

Fino La Draga 15%, Bodegas González Obregón

Appearance

Mid straw - gold with bright reflections, light legs.

Nose 

Forthcoming, quite full and interesting. There is a fruity edge with faint traces of autolysis, minerality, a trace of salinity and a yeasty, almondy bitterness. It is a bit multi-faceted: every sniff reveals something more, even the slightest hint of oxidation. Good start.

Palate

Salinity and yeasty bitterness are to the fore, it is very dry and fairly full with real character, still with that trace of fruit and a long well-rounded finish. A a good example of the Classic El Puerto style.

Comments

This characterful almacenista bodega/despacho in El Puerto has a great range of wines and this Fino is probably the best known. In fact they supply Fino, Oloroso and Amontillado for the Lustau Almacenista range. This fine Fino is about 5 years old and may well be the same wine as Lustau’s Almacenista Puerto Fino. Its name is interesting: “draga” translates as “dredger”, there being a faint picture of one on the label. The port area of El Puerto needs to be dredged now and then as a lot of silt is washed down by the river Guadalete.

Price

About 5 euros ex despacho C/Zarza