Sauvignon Blanc 2017 12%, Bodegas Manuel Aragón

Appearance
Mid to pale golden straw with golden highlights and the odd tiny bubble on the glass.
Nose

All the hallmarks of Sauvignon Blanc - but grown in a warmer place - with mostly green aromas: verdant, leafy, gooseberries, kiwi and perhaps a hint of melon, lime peel, apple, a trace of under-ripe apricot and minerals, but a little fuller than one might expect from, say Sancerre. It is very fresh with some tanginess, and at barely a year old should develop more complexity in the next year or so.

Palate

Dry with a lively acidity and a just little more body than one is used to, it has the slightly chalky texture one would associate with albariza. There is a very slight feel of bubbles in the wine, so maybe it was bottled shortly after fermentation, as allowing the malo-lactic would have reduced the acidity. On the one hand it is very tasty with those green very slightly under-ripe notes, and on the other there is a slight malic/tartaric rawness which will hopefully calm down a bit with more time in bottle.

Comments

Manuel Aragón was the first bodega to plant Sauvignon Blanc in Cádiz, and it is grown in albariza soil near Chiclana under an Andalusian sun. This cool climate grape seems to have acclimatised reasonably well, being used to calcareous soils in the Loire, but judging by the tartaric acidity it was picked quite early, and I feel that, at the expense of just a little of that acidity - something New Zealand SB fans have come to expect, and probably what they were aiming at - it could have been picked just a bit later to capture more fruit, and give it a rounder southern style. I can't decipher the lot number so don't know when it was bottled, but my guess is very early. While what it will do in bottle remains to be seen, it should round off and be a very decent wine. Diam cork too.

Price
6 euros, Licores Corredera

29.6.18 VIII Edition of the Copa Jerez Begins; New White from Obregón

The Consejo Regulador has officially announced inscription dates for the Spanish round of the prestigious food and Sherry matching competition, which is open to applications at www.copajerez.com till the 1^st September. Teams of chef and sommelier will compete to represent Spain against the national winners of seven other countries in the international final which will take place in Jerez in 2019. The VII edition introduced the very successful Forum which included lectures, tastings and show cooking featuring some of the top names in the worlds of Sherry and gastronomy. This is an unmissable event.

Bodegas Manuel Obregón in Chiclana have launched a new and very interesting white wine. Named Retallo (meaning a wooden wedge used to mount barrels), it is made from 100% Pedro Ximénez grown in their own vineyards and harvested earlier than usual so as to produce a dry wine. It comes in at 12 % alcohol and is aged under flor before bottling en rama. Just over 1,000 bottles have been produced.

Fino Granero 15%, Bodegas Manuel Aragón

Appearance

Bright paleish lemony silvery gold.
Nose

Fresh and still with traces of ripe apple fruit and a faint tartaric-almost glacé lemon-note in the background, but also with traces of flor bitterness and a certain hint of almond. It has more depth as it opens out with hints of yeast, straw and olive brine; a classic youngish Fino from coastal vineyards.

Palate

Fresh and slightly fuller than expected, it has a lively acidity giving it zip and a gentle chalky texture along with notes of faintly bitter almond, apple, lemon peel, a certain yeastiness and a gentle briny salinity. The finish is long with an appealing dry bitter freshness.
Comments

Bodegas Manuel Aragón were founded in 1795 and are also known as "Bodegas Sanatorio". Still a family business, they are located in Chiclana and are thus in the Sherry production zone. This means that while the wine very much is Sherry, it can't be sold as such, but it can be sold to bodegas in the ageing zone and sold on as Sherry. The quality of this bodega's wines is excellent, proved by the fact that two of its old wines, bottled by Equipo Navazos scored 98 and 99 points from Robert Parker.

Price
5,95 Licores Corredera

Amontillado Viejo Seco 20%, Manuel Aragón

Appearance

Bronze tinted amber with copper highlights and a trace of green at the rim, legs.

Nose

Loads of toasted hazelnuts and almonds, traces of oak and a hints of humidity and cinnamon with a hint of sweetness. This smells old yet supremely elegant; very alive and complex, delightful.

Palate

Full, crisp and deeply flavoured, this is not a young wine, it has considerable age, well over 25 years at a guess. There is a certain volatile acidity giving it an attractive tang and then the nuts come through, with a glyceric sweetness and counterbalancing bitterness and a certain texture. There are notes of spice and traces of tannin but everything is beautifully integrated.

Comments

This delicious wine is a limited availablity very old Amontillado from the leading Chiclana bodega in the production zone, Manuel Aragón, better known - locally at least - as Bodegas Sanatorio, founded in 1795. Chiclana might only be considered a Sherry grape producer, but this bodega supplied the Equipo Navazos Palo Cortado No 62 which scored 98 Parker points, so they certainly have serious wines. This wine comes from the foundational solera and is released annually in very small quantities, bottled by hand direct from the butt.

Price

47.50 per 50cl bottle, Licores Corredera

La Bota de Palo Cortado 62 21.5%, Equipo Navazos

Appearance
Deep,fairly dark transparent amber with distinct copper tones and a touch of green at the rim, legs.

Nose

Intensely fragrant; you know at once that this is an old wine as all its nuances have developed into a serious bouquet, but one can still pick out toasted almonds autumn leaves, old polished furniture, tobacco and traces of oak. It keeps on giving and is incredibly well balanced and refined, with an attractive slight nutty sweetness which rounds off the intensity beautifully.

Palate

Intense and extremely complex on entry and that initial impact spreads round the palate stimulating every nerve. It is dry but not quite as tannic as one might have expected for its age but it certainly has grip, enough to give the wine terrific length and texture yet not enough to obscure its charm. It leaves an almost everlasting sensation of  nuts and barrels and a strong desire for another glass. Superb.

Comments

The label includes the words "Diez años despues..." meaning "ten years on...", this being a 10th anniversary release and the first ever from Chiclana, which is in the production but not the ageing zone and thus not DO. Had it been aged in a Sherry town it would certainly be DO - it is of supreme quality. Anyway it is from the approximately 200 year old bodega of Manuel Aragón. The wine is from a single "bota no" in Aragon's bodega Campano which had been sitting around for 50 or 60 years without any topping up and had naturally lost much volume to evaporation, in fact there were barely 300 litres left. The whole butt was bottled, so this wine can never be repeated, and only a little was put on the market. This ultimate contemplation wine scored 98 Parker points. Incidentally Equipo Navazos also bottled an ancient Oloroso from this bodega at the same time (La Bota 63) which scored 99 Parker points. What better wines to celebrate a decade of Equipo Navazos and just how much they have done for Sherry - and for those who love it.

Price
80 euros per 50cl bottle from Er Guerrita