Fino Perla 15%, Bodegas Blanca Reyes

Appearance

Comparatively pale almost silvery straw, quite pearl-like hence the name, light legs.

Nose

Delicate, fresh  and refined with gentle flor notes and almond-tinged notes of bread dough, quite yeasty and remarkably light but still it has a presence. Quite young with no autolytic notes but a bit of acetaldehyde giving the almondy character. Background traces of green herbs, but overall yeasty.

Palate

Again light, but graceful and elegant with just enough acidity to give it length and a gentle tang. The almond and bread notes persist along with a slight trace of olive brine and it is very dry (0.08 g/l sugars) though you would hardly notice through the smoothness. Light and delicate but with its own unique style.

Comments

This is the perfect wine to introduce someone to Sherry; it is less distant than many from a white table wine, yet is truly Sherry. From a small family bodega in Jerez this really has its own unique style. It is about 5 years old. The logo represents a perro ratonero (a kind of terrier bred to rid bodegas of mice) and the family perro is still with us at 17 years old! It is interesting that the lost but important bodega MacKenzie also had a Fino Perla, but the copyright must have run out long ago. Telmo, the manager, tells me they are soon to re-vamp the labels.

Price

5.95 euros ex bodega

Bodegas: Bodegas Blanca Reyes

This small firm was Established in 1884 as Bodegas Sol in the Plazuela neighbourhood of Jerez by Francisco Espinosa de los Monteros. This area was where many gypsies lived, and was – and is – full of Flamenco.  The bodega continues still in family hands. It is run by Maria Jimenez Garcia (an Espinosa de los Monteros) and her son Telmo Moreno along with their salesman Sebastian Iñigo Vera.

Telmo and Maria

Maria was one of the six children of Rafael Jimenez and Maria Garcia Sanchez. Her father worked as an arrumbador (people who operate the soleras) at Valdespino, and her mother applied labels to bottles and young Maria took her father his lunch, which he would enjoy with a couple of glasses of Sherry, and then go and crash his motor scooter.

She married a man called Telmo after seven years of courtship, but was soon widowed. Later she got to know Aurelio Blanca Reyes, a hard-working man from Algeciras with business acumen. He ran a transport business in the Calle Circo, but soon got involved with running the family bodega. He had learned his craft at Gonzalez Byass. After only three months of marriage however, Aurelio died, leaving Maria a widow again, and this time with a son whom she called Telmo.

Maria was presented with a choice: sell the bodega and live comfortably sacrificing all Aurelio’s hard work, or take over the running of the bodega in his memory. She took over the bodega, about 20 years ago now, despite worries about working in a very male-dominated industry with falling sales, and knowing little about it. There was no alternative but to learn. Her son Telmo was taught by a chemist from Bodegas Caballero and is her right hand. Together they have kept the bodega going, and are now exploring export markets.

Solera La Perla

The small bodega is registered at the Consejo Regulador as one which stores, ages and sells wine on the open market. It contains 500 butts from which they produce a range of wines from which they bottle their star wine Fino Perla along with PX, Moscatel, Oloroso and Cream. Soon they will also bottle a range of Fino, Manzanilla, Amontillado, Medium and Vinegar.

Visits: Yes by appointment

Address: Puertas del Sol, 22-24, 11401 Jerez de la Frontera, Cadiz

Telephone: (+34)956 342 534

Web: www. bodegas blanca reyes.com