6.8.17 Fernández-Gao Launch De Ecclesia

The recently re-established firm of Fernández-Gao has launched a new high quality communion wine which is not only the first such wine with the Denominación de Origen Sherry but also has the approval of the Bishop. The idea was born of the friendship between the parish priest of Algar, Juan Antonio Vital, and the technical director of Fernández-Gao, Juan Carlos Sánchez. The Bishop had contacted the priest about establishing a new parish in Arcos, which naturally would need funding, and Juan Carlos offered to help. Juan Antonio thought up the wine’s name and designed the label, while Juan Carlos created the wine.

The bodega is not producing De Ecclesia for profit, but the parish priest feels the Church could sell the wine at 6-7 euros and has already obtained a domain name for this purpose. Production is unlikely to exceed 10,000 bottles however. Communion wine has traditionally been a fairly low strength basic wine gifted in garrafas to the priests by the bodegas, but not usually specifically made for the purpose. De Ecclesia, in contrast, will be fully bottled and labelled and the arms of the city will adorn the top of the cork. They are so confident in the quality of the wine that they are recommending people to take the host and the wine separately so as to appreciate its flavour.

5.8.17 The Great Sherry Tasting 2017

The GST is back for its VII edition. This is the world’s largest Sherry tasting outside Jerez and it will take place in London at Level 2 OXO Tower Wharf, Bargehouse Street, London on Monday 11^th September.  There will be at least 200 wines and over 24 bodegas, in most cases represented by their UK importers. Three masterclasses have been arranged; “Becoming a Sherry Sommelier” by two leading sommeliers, “Pairing Cheese with Sherry” by Susie Atkins and “The Nation’s Favourite Sherries: En Rama and Cream” by Beltrán Domecq.

Bodegas Alonso will be there for the first time as well as Garvey and there is a welcome return of Sandeman. Sherry cocktails will be available along with lots of people who can answer any questions about Sherry. So if you are in the trade, this event is unmissable, and you can book here:

http://www.sherry.wine/media-trade/events/great-sherry-tasting-2017

Fino 15%, El Maestro Sierra (Re-taste)

Appearance

Pale straw gold with brassy gold highlights.

Nose

Quite big and complex with all sorts of nuances. There is plenty of flor giving it lots of  surface almondy bitterness, hints of olive brine and bread dough, and  a noticeable influence of cabezuela giving it an attractive buttery -almost cheesey - seriousness. This is class.

Palate

Lots of character, a real demonstration of what flor can do both on the surface of the wine and from the bottom of the butt, all in perfect harmony. This is cracking stuff. Bone dry, bitter, balanced and complex, there is a gentle texture and considerable length. All you should expect of a Fino and more.

Comments

Always an excellent Fino, this wine was bottled in April 2017 at at least five years old and is super fresh and super expressive. It speaks volumes about the bodega's location and the skill of oenologist Ana Cabestrero. While it is not bottled en rama, it has not been subjected to excessive stabilisation leaving plenty of flavour, plenty. 

Price
7.10 euros per half bottle from Licores Corredera

4.8.17 Xeco: a new Fino is Launched

Using the strapline “XECO, a Sherry brand for YOU – not Granny!”  three self-confessed “Fino fiends”, Polly, Beanie and Alexa have crowdfunded the launch of a new Fino in ”disruptive packaging”. It is aimed at young people in wine and cocktail bars, and the girls are working with bartenders to develop more cocktails. The wine itself is a four year old Fino sourced from Bodegas Diez Mérito and will be available any day now in the UK from Master of Malt with an RRP of £15.99 - £16.99. The plan is to launch an Amontillado in the autumn and more information can be found at www.xecowines.com

3.8.17 Sherry Vinegar Sets Record Sales

While Sherry is beginning to make a comeback, Jerez vinegar sales are soaring, registering a 9% increase in first half sales over last year. This is all the more impressive when last year’s sales hit a record of 5 million litres, which was itself an 11% increase on 2015. The biggest market is Spain, closely followed by France and the two countries account for 80% of total sales, with the USA in third place with a spectacular increase of 71%. Sales are largely driven by gastronomy but domestic use also contributes greatly.  The recent recession saw sales levels wobble, but they have surged back as Spain’s economy begins to recover. Jerez vinegar is unique, being born of Sherry wine, which has a much longer history than most, and, of course, the solera system. It is also controlled by the Consejo Regulador.

Marismilla 2015 13.5%, Bodegas Luis Pérez

Appearance

Delicate, pretty very slightly orangey onion skin pink

Nose

Attractive, fresh, tight and delicate yet forthcoming fruity aromas like a fruit salad of blueberries, raspberries and strawberries and, of course, black grapes - and a hint of their texture. Extremely inviting.

Palate

Super fresh and beautifully balanced with gentle, perhaps slightly chalky grapeskin texture, a trace of clean minerality and those delicious berry flavours. The depth of flavour and aroma belies the pale colour as it is made from the mosto yema or free-run juice. Delicious with a long clean finish.

Comments

This Vino de la Tierra de Cádiz is quite unusual as there are few rosés produced here and fewer still from the Tintilla grape. The organically grown grapes come from the bodega's own albariza vineyards at Hacienda Vistahermosa in the pago Corchuelo. They are hand picked at night for maximum freshness and minimum oxidation and selected both at the vineyard and again at the bodega. They are 100% de-stemmed and given a four hour cold soak. The free-run juice is then fermented at low temperature in a process known as "lagrima" (or tears), giving a delicate but aromatic and tasty wine which is great value.

Price

7.20 euros, Licores Corredera

Table Wine Bodegas: Forlong

Established by a young couple from El Puerto de Santa María, Alejandro Narváez and Rocío Áspera in 2009, this bodega has gone from strength to strength. It started as a passion, became a dream and later a reality, and all the more impressive in the depths of an economic crisis. Alejandro had studied marketing and Rocío had studied business, but their career path changed when Rocío’s father bought the land known as La Finca del Olivar in 2007 and planted a hectare with vines. They made the first wine in 2009 and fell in love with the idea. Alejandro then studied viticulture and oenology gaining further experience in Bordeaux, while Rocío studied viti-viniculture in hot climates and worked for a while at Bodegas Luis Pérez.

Alejandro & Rocio with their wines standing in front of the tinajas.

The vineyard is in the pago Balbaina Baja near El Puerto and once belonged to Charles Furlong, British Vice Consul and partner in the long gone Sherry producer Matthiesen Furlong. They have been farming it biodynamically and hold a certificate of organic agriculture for which they had to go through a three year conversion period. Inspectors visit every year to check that no chemicals are being used, and they are not as these two passionately believe that the vineyard should be reflected in the wine, and the better the grapes, the better it is. They now have two further vineyards; in Balbaina Alta between Jerez and Sanlúcar, and another, La Greduela, located four kilometres east of Jerez where they grow four hectares of red grapes. The Balbaina vineyards have albariza soils and La Greduela has more clayey soils which help to emphasise the fruitiness in the wine. A total of eleven hectares are currently planted, though they are not all in production yet.

(foto: Cristo Garcia)

Until finance could be raised to construct the bodega, Alejandro and Rocío made the wine using the facilities at Sancha Pérez at Conil before the first Forlong wines were released in February 2014; 2,000 bottles of Petit Forlong red and 1,000 of Forlong Blanco. One approaches the bodega, which is in the middle of the vineyard, down a track lined with mulberry trees, passing the small olive grove. Here, various winemaking techniques are employed including fermentation in steel tanks, barrels and eight tinajas (huge clay jars). Barrel ageing is carried out in a fantastically humid cellar. Innovation and experimentation are bywords here with, for example, Palomino made using the red wine process and aged in ex Oloroso butts, while they are also fermenting in tinajas and experimenting with different periods of oak ageing, and proportions of grape varieties in the blends, not to mention sparkling wine.

The vineyards are planted to Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Tintilla, Merlot, Palomino and Pedro Ximenez. Grapes are harvested manually, selected and stored in a cold room at about 4-5 C for 24 hours and destemmed before winemaking commences. Only natural yeasts are used. Crianza takes place in the cellar below the bodega, and is kept to a minimum to allow wines to develop in bottle.

Production has grown from the initial 3,000 bottles to the current 60,000, with seven different wines on the market. A further two wines are made exclusively for the Michelin starred Aponiente restaurant in El Puerto run by Ángel León, one of which is sparkling and called simply Burbujas (Bubbles).  Thanks to the quality and innovative style of not only the wines, but also the lovely labels designed by Victoria Cerezo Doello, they have no trouble selling them and nearly all are sold locally, but they would like to grow and sell internationally. Given their varied and proven skills, this should not be a problem, and export success would be well deserved.

White wines:

Blanco Forlong

El Amigo Imaginario

80/20

Rose wines:

Rosado Forlong

Red wines:

Assemblage Tinto

Petit Forlong

Tintilla

Address: Carretera Jerez - Rota Km 6, 11500 El Puerto de Santa María, Cadiz.

Telephone: (00 34) 620 211 203 (mobile)

Website: www.bodegadeforlong.com (still in construction)

Visits: would need to be arranged