The wine of a lifetime: Fino la Barajuela 2013

If any of you guys have followed by blog and posts on undertheflor.com at all you will realize that I enjoy my wine, in particular the wines of Jerez and Sanlucar, and that in the context of Jerez and Sanlucar I really believe they need to give more importance to terroir (the pagos and vineyards) and to vintages.

So the Fino la Barajuela 2013 by Willy Perez was always going to be an exciting wine for several reasons. First, it is a wine from a specific vineyard - El Corregidor - in the Pago “Carrascal de Jerez” - the Northernmost, furthest inland of the four great Jerez pagos (Balbaina, Añina, Macharnudo and Carrascal). The vineyard, which I was lucky enough to visit in March this year, is blessed with the “Barajuela” type of albariza soil said to impart a horizontal, concentrated quality on the resulting wines.

Second, it is from a single vintage - 2013 evidently - and has been “statically aged” in botas rather than forming part of any solera. It has also been aged in bota for only a bare two and a half years - much less than many premium finos around today and again, much closer to the kind of age that wines would have had before solera ageing became more prevalent. Interestingly, the maker intends to release a second batch of this wine in 3-4 years, so we will be able to judge the effect of that additional time under flor (if I manage to save a bottle until then).

Third, and perhaps its most famous characteristic is that it is not fortified. Normally, the palomino “mostos” or wines used to make fino are a puny 11-12º and need to be fortified to around 15% to prevent the growth of the wrong kinds of yeasts. However, by harvesting later than usual (late August rather than late July/early August, as is nowadays more typical) and resorting to “asoleo” (the traditional process of leaving the harvested fruit in the sun) the maker of this wine, Willy Perez, managed to produce a mosto of more than 15º without adding any alcohol. At the same time, of course, he has also produced a wine of incredibly concentration compared to the run of the mill.

All of which is very interesting but the really important thing is that this is one of the best wines I have tasted/drunk in a long, long time. A massive personality but just fantasticly elegant - right up there with the very best burgundies, but with more character. My tasting note is on the blog: Fino la Barajuela 2013 | undertheflor.com

Willy, who together with Ramiro Ibañez is one of the two most exciting wine makers in the region - calls this the “wine of his life” and there is no doubt that it is a masterpiece. It is a wine that could change the history of winemaking down in Jerez. The only problem is that he didn’t make very much of this first batch: I certainly hope he and others will make some more.

(If you are interested, I have some blog posts on Terroir and Jerez - Jerez and terroir by Jefford and others | undertheflor.com - and did a recent piece on vintage sherries for the sherry wine site - Vintages past, present, and future | undertheflor.com)

I mentioned above that this wine was up there with the best burgundies and well, had one open (a 2004 Chassagne Montrachet) so thought I would give them a run out side by side. Fish of a different kidney of course and the Chassagne was wonderfully expressive, but no doubting the class of the Fino even in this company.

Was down in the Jerez earlier this month and had an opportunity to visit Bodegas Luis Perez. Had a cracking trip to the vineyards and bodega and, more importantly, a tasting of the wines at different stages of development - wines made from grapes harvested in different passes and with different amounts of time under flor. Was a really fascinating, didactic tasting - note here: