Luis G’s recent report on the wines of Jerez, Sanlucar, and Montilla Moriles for TWA was a good 'un - well worth reading if you have access.
In it Luis covers a lot of ground: the terroir of the bodega; the opportunities presented by escaping from the established categories of fino, manzanilla etc; the success (and importance) of white wines like those released by Navazos Niepoort and Equipo Navazos; that bottle ageing is no worse for sherries than any other wine; the growth in interest for biologically aged wines from Jerez and other areas; the red wines of the region; the revitalization of creams and mediums as styles; the bag-in-box issue (and underlying problem with excess production); most hopefully, the work of Ramiro Ibañez and Willy Perez and others and the rebirth of interest in terroir; and the excellent work of Equipo Navazos. (I don’t agree with everything in it - if anyone is interested I bashed out a couple of alternative thoughts here: Visions of Jerez and Sanlucar: L Gutierrez and A Mindundi | undertheflor.com)
However one of the interesting things was the number of unfortified wines that were tasted: 30 of the 150, including bubbles and red wines but mainly white wines from palomino grown on albariza. It got me thinking about this class in a bit more detail. It was one of the areas where I really didn’t agree much with Luis, so I thought I would share my own experiences with a top 5 blancos de albariza.
#5 - Las 30 del Cuadrado 2015 - a beautifully made wine from the legendary Hidalgo pago in Jerez - Las 30 del Cuadrado 2015 | undertheflor.com
#4 - La Charanga 2014 - a potent, structured palomino from pago Mahina from the crazy cats at Alba - La Charanga 2014 | undertheflor.com
#3 - Viña Matalian - palomino from the purest albariza soil in Finca Matalian, 7km from the sea at the extreme South end of the Marco - https://undertheflor.com/2016/03/20/finca-matalian/
#2 - La Bota de Florpower 57 MMXII - said to have been “the” vintage in el marco, certainly the best of the Florpower wines that I have had - La Bota de Florpower 57 MMXII | undertheflor.com
#1 - UBE 2013 - an exquisite wine from 100 year old palomino vines in Pago Miraflores - UBE 2013 | undertheflor.com
And finally, hors de categorie - the Pitijopos - really one of the most amazing projects of the last year. (Pitijopos – 6 days later | undertheflor.com) The second edition cannot be far away now and I am literally counting the days.