Solo 2016 14.5%, Bodegas González Palacios

Appearance
Pale to mid strawy gold with golden highlights.
Nose

Plenty of flor bitterness and lots of apple, quince and pear fruit join a battle which neither wins. There is an attractive almost bitter-sweet tension between the two which arouses interest and whets the palate. But there is more to it than that; neither dominates and while the fruit is good and ripe with an implied sweetness the flor side dries it out aided by a fresh salinity, and it also has a little weight to it.

Palate

Up front flor gives way to a fuller, rounder, fruitier feel but keeps it in check. There is lots of ripe fruit and a satisfying breadth to the wine but that gently saline bitterness runs all the way through giving it a sort of irresistible verve. This is lovely wine with a character all its own.

Comments

González Palacios is the leading bodega in Lebrija which, while being in the province of Sevilla, is more geologically connected to Cádiz, and has its own Denominacion de Origen Protegida. This wine is made from 100% low yielding Palomino fermented in butt and aged for around 15 months in well seasoned Sherry butts under flor like it has been since the XVII century. It is basically unfortified  young Fino and is what has been drunk for centuries in the area, and with quality like this you can see why.

Price

11.40 euros, Licores Corredera

Overo Crianza 2015 14%, González Palacios

Appearance

Dense blacky red with a fairly tight deep ruby rim.

Nose

Full and obviously made from super ripe grapes, it has lots of spice notes both from those extra ripe grapes, especially Syrah with its slight hint of smoke, and from the oak. Behind all that spice there is a tight blackcurrant bramble fruit and there is an overall element of polish.

Palate

Full bodied and super ripe with a firm structure both in terms of alcohol and of tannin. There is also a decent acidity which imparts some much needed freshness to balance the heat that emanates from the wine. There is something wild and untamed about it yet it has some charm, and that will develop with a couple more years in bottle.

Comments

This wine comes from the leading bodega in Lebrija and is made from70% Tempranillo and 30% Syrah grown on albariza soils. Overo is the name of the place they are located and is a gentle hill looking over the Guadalquivir marshes and open to the Poniente winds. It is aged for 12 months in a combination of French and American oak and is one of a handful of wines which belong to the Denominacion de Origen Lebrija, the town which legend has it was founded by Bacchus.

Price
8.95 euros, De Albariza

Lebrija Old Vino Generoso 18%, González Palacios

Appearance

Bright, fairly deep amber with orange/copper highlights fading to a pale rim, legs.

Nose

Interesting, like Sherry but not Sherry. It is very fresh and there is a tangy, fruity very slightly appley oxidative Palomino note perhaps even a hint of cider, but there is much more to it than that; it smells of young, slightly sweet Oloroso with  traces of cinnamon and wax. It seems odd at first but really grows on you.

Palate

Medium bodied and fresh with that tangy apple fruit, there must be a hint of residual sugar since while it is dry there is a very slight sweetness not wholly attributable to glycerine. It has a gentle grapeskin-like texture and is low on tannin and volatile acidity. None of the foregoing would indicate a 30 year old wine, but it definitely is, and that's the difference between Jerez and Lebrija I guess.

Comments

This is something unusual. It comes from the DO of Lebrija which is virtually unknown, possibly because González Palacios is the only bodega in the DO, which was only established in 2010. Lebrija lies about 30 km north east of Sanlúcar and into the province of Sevilla, but sits on albariza soils and not far from the river Guadalquivir. It is said that the town was founded by Bacchus. The wine is made from 100% Palomino grapes grown in the firm's Pago de Overo vineyards and fermented in stainless steel tanks before ageing in very old (over 100 years) 500 litre butts for some 30 years.

Price 
14.70 Licores Corredera

Sólo 2013 13.6%, Bodegas González Palacios

Appearance

Bright glistening gold with very light legs.

Nose

Fresh and different with hints of lemon curd, ripe appleskin, apricot and gentle flor notes reminding one of Manzanilla, unusual but attractive, especially as a more familiar dusty Palomino aroma comes through with the very slightest trace of oxidation. A real character which keeps evolving in the glass.

Palate

Fresh, tangy and fairly full with an interesting interplay between fruit and flor; the intense fruit is balanced nicely with the acidity and the flor. It is dry clean and interesting with a really long finish.

Comments

This wine is from the table wine Denominación Vino de Calidad de Lebrija. The town is actually in the province of Sevilla, but it is close to the Guadalquivir, upstream from Sanlúcar, and the vineyards share the albariza soils and maritime atmosphere with its better-known neighbour. Made from 100% Palomino grapes, the wine is fermented in butts seasoned with Lebrija "Sherry" (very good and very similar but outside the Sherry ageing zone) and aged in them for a year under flor. Wines have been produced this way for centuries.

Price
9.15 euros from Licores Corredera