29.6.16 More Medals for Sherry; Lustau Appoint New Oenologist; Goya XL

The XXII edition of the Premios Mezquita which takes place annually in Córdoba has rewarded the Sherry bodegas with lots of medals.  Diez Mérito won a Mezquita Grand Gold for Fino Imperial and Gold for the PX VORS while the firm’s Bertola won gold for the PX, Palo Cortado, Amontillado, Cream and Oloroso, all 12 years old. González Byass also won gold for the Noé, Amontillado del Duque and Tio Pepe en Rama. Meanwhile the Jerez Cooperative La Angustias won gold for its Fino Mira la Mar and silver for the Oloroso, PX and Cream from the same range. Their Romerito range won silver for the Oloroso, Cream and Medium and their excellent Fino sin Pecado also won silver.

At another competition, the Concurso Internacional de Vinos de Atlántico, Bertola PX 12 years old, while at yet another, the Akatavino Top Ten, included 98.5 for Williams & Humbert’s Jalifa and 96 for Dos Cortados. González Byass scored 94 for their Tintilla de Rota, 97.5 for Cuatro Palmas and Tres Palmas. Delgado Zuleta scored 98 for Amontillado Quo Vadis.

After the immensely sad loss of oenologist Manuel Lozano, Lustau have appointed Sergio Martínez in his place. Sergio has already worked for the firm for 13 years and spent 10 of them working daily alongside “Manolo”. Lustau’s director general, Luis Luengo, said that “Sergio has our full support in leading the team. There is no one better to maintain our style and bring new ideas to the project.”

Sergio was born in San Fernando (Cádiz) and spent his childhood among the towns of Cádiz Bay. While passionate about nature, the sea the marvellous local beaches and animals he is also passionate about Sherry and says his favourite style is Amontillado “for its complexity, subtle nuances and elegance thanks to both biological and oxidative ageing which makes it unique.”

Bodegas Delgado Zuleta have released a new saca of their superb Manzanilla Goya XL. It has already received 93 Parker points and gold at the International Wine Challenge and Best Manzanilla. This wine is released extremely rarely, in fact this is only the third ever saca. It comes from an exhaustive selection from 10 butts from the La Goya Solera by oenologist Salvador Real, is over ten years old and bottled en rama. It is an outstanding wine, a true classic, get it if you can. Now.

Salvador Real (R) at the Madrid presentation

Manzanilla Pasada en rama Goya XL 15% Delgado Zuleta

Appearance
Bright paleish strawy gold, legs.
Nose
Saline, bread dough and camomile, bitter almond, slightest trace seaweed and olive brine and dry scrubland, traces of autolysis in the background, very complex and expressive yet beautifully fresh, fantastic.
Palate
Once in the mouth it just grows, bone dry, all the flavours of the nose, very savoury from autolysis with pronounced notes of olive, low acid compensated for by flor bitterness, bursting with flavour and with great persistence.
Comments
An absolute beauty. This wine is over 10 years old and fresher than most daisies. It is a Manzanilla with all the hallmarks of a pasada yet just so fresh. John Radford gave it 19/20 and so do I. The scales of the solera are run only to compensate for losses due to transpiration, and of course to refresh the nutrients for the flor, so not much is available for sale, just one annual selected saca. While this might be reviewed, the feeling is that it is better to draw the wine in its very best moment than to draw it seasonally. Do try and get some.
Price
15 euros ex bodega for a 50cl bottle, and somewhere around £20 in the UK, imported by Borough Wines. And worth every centimo or penny!