Oloroso El Corregidor 19%, Sandeman

Appearance
Beautiful light patinated mahogany fading through amber to trace of green at rim, copper gold glints.
Nose

Forthcoming, fragrant and super elegant. Some Oloroso can be a little hefty yet this is lighter and intensely aromatic, the result of a good many years of careful ageing. Notes of walnut and toasted almond, fine old oak - almost exotic woods, and a slightly balsamic volatile acidity are balanced by a suggestion of sweetness. Innumerable nuances have combined into a sumptuous bouquet.
Palate

Light, supremely elegant and bursting with flavour. It is super smooth with just enough glycerine to round it off and barely a hint of tannin yet it has grip. There are lots of nuts and the oxidation is elegant and not excessive, while the acidity is not at all aggressive. This wine is absolutely delicious, intense, refined and charming with terrific length, superb!
Comments

El Corregidor is the name of a 60 hectare vineyard in the Carrascal which dates back to at least 1414, though the large cortijo building is from the early XIX century. Sandeman used to own it having acquired it when they took over Pemartin in 1879. Thus all the Sandeman wine was originally Pemartin until they bought 800 butts of already old Oloroso from Antonio Bernaldo de Quiros in 1894. This consists of a solera of 14 scales, most unusual for Oloroso but full of possibilities, and this particular wine, El Corregidor, a dry Oloroso comes from the seventh criadera. Royal Corregidor VOS is a slightly sweetened version (using 10% PX from the Royal Ambrosante solera) while Imperial Corregidor is an older sweetened version, and very rarely bottled. El Corregidor dry Oloroso is no longer offered, and this bottle probably dates from the 1950's or 60s. Bodegas Luis Pérez bought the vineyard in 2013, from the sell-off of Nueva Rumasa which had owned it since 2004, and they are using it to produce grapes from its low yielding old vines for his Barajuela Sherries, having changed the vine training back to vara y pulgar. There are currently some 30 hectares of Palomino and the other 30 comprise a mix of Tintilla, Vijiriega, PX and Cañocazo.They are using the almijar for sunning the grapes to avoid the need to fortify. The bodega has 10 lagares or pressing troughs and they are considering building an underground bodega to press, ferment and store the Sherry wines. There is so much interesting stuff going on here.
Price

100 euros, Licores Corredera

Brandy Capa Negra Solera Reserva 36%, Sandeman

Appearance

Mahogany tinged amber with bright coppery golden highlights.

Nose

Brown sugar and plenty of vanilla from the American oak with hints of caramel, chestnut and Oloroso combine in a lightish fairly crisp style with a hint of spirit. 

Palate

Smooth, fresh and fairly light, very much like the nose with a fairly crisp clean caramelly vanilla flavour. Very easy drinking and perhaps just slightly simple, but certainly very pleasant.

Comments

Capa Negra translates as the black cape, the famous Sandeman logo, better known as "the Don". The brandy was a later addition the the Sandeman range as they only began selling Sherry in Spain in 1958, and their  distributor suggested they also sell brandy. A major solera was duly established in 1964. The Capa Negra Solera Reserva is a blend of aguardientes aged for one year and the older holandas which is solera aged till it reaches an average age of three years. Like many Jerez brandies it has a trace of sweetening, in this case <8g/l.
Price
14.30 euros, Licores Corredera

3.3.17 Mundus Vini Sherry Results; New Tio Pepe Experience

Results are in for the Mundus Vini Wine Competition Spring 2017 which is set in Germany. Organised by Meininger, the publisher and event organiser in Neustadt/Weinstraße, over 6,000 wines were subjected to rigorous examination by professionals. Here are the Sherry results:

Gold Best of Show Sherry

Sandeman Royal Ambrosante PX VOS

Gold

Sandeman Caracter  Medium Dry

Sandeman Armada Cream

González Byass Cristina Medium

González Byass Néctar PX

González Byass Amontillado del Duque VORS

González Byass Palo Cortado Apóstoles VORS

González Byass Matúsalem Oloroso VORS

Barbadillo Gibalbín VT Cádiz

González Byass and cooperage Tonelería Vasima have got together for a new Tio Pepe experience. This great idea is designed to show the importance of the cooper in Jerez with a visit to the cooperage where one can see all the fascinating traditional processes of barrel production from drying the staves through to the finished product. This is followed by a visit to the bodegas for a tasting of wines and spirits at various stages of maturity to see how the oak interacts with them and their development over time.

Amontillado Royal Esmeralda VOS 20%, Sandeman

Appearance

Deep bright walnut tinted brown with bright copper highlights fading through amber to a trace of green at the rim, legs.

Nose

Intense and complex with interesting and unusual spicy notes of cinnamon and clove followed by hints of orange, praline, garrapiñada (toasted almond in caramel) and a certain implied sweetness. This is not a standard Amontillado nose but is very attractive nonetheless.

Palate

Full and intense, it is virtually dry but for a gram or two of sweetness which rounds off any austerity from the oak, yet leaves a dry finish aided by some volatile acidity. There is considerable mid-palate charm with a spicy orangey nuttiness which lingers for ages, reminding one slightly of Christmas. There is a gentle texture and very little tannin which is not balanced out.

Comments

This superb and very characterful old Amontillado is available in very limited quantities in numbered bottles. This one was number 2103. The RE number is that of Zoilo Ruiz Mateos who actually make the wine from the original Sandeman soleras. Esmeralda comes from an old solera bought by Sandeman in 1894 (along with the Oloroso solera known as Royal Corregidor and the PX solera known as Royal Ambrosante - in total, 800 butts) from Antonio Bernaldo Quirós who had inherited them from his father in 1855. It is not known precisely how old this solera is, but it is well over 150 years, which accounts for the wine's immense complexity.

Price

22 euros per 50cl bottle from Licores Corredera

Rich Old Oloroso Royal Corregidor VOS 20%, Sandeman

Appearance

Very deep yet transparent blacky brown fading through oak gall ink to amber at the rim, legs.

Nose

There is a distinct aroma of age here with considerable depth and complexity. The nose is dry and serious with lots of old oak and walnuts and even a hint of spice, yet traces of fruit and cinder toffee from the PX. There is even the slightest trace of licorice. Such complexity can only come from very old soleras, and indeed they are.

Palate

The first material sign of sweetness starts here with old PX richness but the wine is a good bit less sweet than a Cream. The PX is probably there to balance out any astringency from the very old Oloroso, and there is certainly not much astringency now; rather a hint of very slightly burned fruit cake, a delightful texture and almost interminable length.

Comments

This complex "Rich Old Oloroso" comes from a very old Oloroso solera bought from Antonio Bernardo Quirós as part of an 800 butt purchase of Oloroso in 1894. According to Jan Read the solera has 14 scales.  The Oloroso is blended with a little old Pedro Ximenez (10%) from the Royal Ambrosante solera which is also sold separately as a VOS. This gives the wine an attractive depth, richness and fruitiness without being over sweet; in fact it contains 90g/l sugars but, certainly on the nose, seems drier. It is named after the Royal Corregidor vineyard which Sandeman owned for some time, and the wine is released in limited sacas with numbered bottles.

Price
22 euros per 50cl bottle from Licores Corredera