Tio Pepe En Rama 2013 Release 15%, Gonzalez Byass

Appearance
Bright pale strawy gold, slight legs.
Nose
Forthcoming, extremely yeasty and quite unlike the 2012. Not particularly saline - though slightly, but plenty of bitterness - almond, freshly sawn oak, traces olive brine, hay and bread dough, dry, soft and very slightly humid, interesting and complex.
Palate
Lovely, fresh and yeasty, similar to nose, but slightly more bitter, that trace of freshly sawn oak again, low acid gives a breadth, softness almost wine-like fruitiness toward the finish, then a bitter tinge at the end.
Comments
Bottled on 8th April 2013 - in Spring - so that the flor is at its thickest. Last October, Antonio Flores, capataz at Gonzalez Byass, selected 100 butts from the Constancia and Rebollo soleras. Since then, Jerez has had a mild winter with plenty rainfall, which has led to amazingly healthy flor. In the end Sr Flores selected 67 butts for bottling without stabilisation nor filtration. There is therefore not much of this wine to go round, and the bodega recommends a drinking window of only about 3 months. So don't hang about!
Price
£15.95 from Vino, Stockbridge, Edinburgh

24.4.13 Latest Tio Pepe En Rama Released

The 4^th in the series, the 2013 Tio Pepe en Rama has been launched in the UK at the Big Fortified Tasting in London today. En rama Sherry undergoes the least possible stabilisation and filtration, leaving the wine in a state similar to that in the solera, and far more complex than the normal wine. Chief winemaker at Gonzalez Byass, Antonio Flores, describes it as “untamed Tio Pepe”. This year’s release has  more flor character than usual, due to the mild and wet winter and spring which makes the flor grow thicker. The wine was bottled on the 8^th of April, and being en rama, should be drunk sooner than the normal wine, ideally about 3 months.

 RRP is £14.99. Only 10752 bottles have been released along with a few half bottles, so don’t hang about!!