TN: NV Equipo Navazos Manzanilla de Sanlúcar de Barrameda La Bota de Amontillado Nº 37 "Navazos"

NV Equipo Navazos Manzanilla de Sanlúcar de Barrameda La Bota de Amontillado Nº 37 “Navazos” - Spain, Andalucía, Manzanilla de Sanlúcar de Barrameda (12/9/2017)
Opened to serve with onion soup, this was a perfect match. Nutty, salty, and showing a hint of caramel, the wine hit all the right notes with the caramelized onion flavors in the soup. Actually, it kind of made me ignore the soup. ;^)

Posted from CellarTracker

Is EN the only top end sherry label?

No

Thanks for the note, David! I opened a magnum of the La Bota 69 for our group’s “Sherry Xmas” party this afternoon which is from the same solera as your #37. Fantastic stuff!

Thus far, Sherry is the only wine I’ve found that pairs well with French Onion Soup. Thanks for the note on this one.

I think I’d prefer something a little richer than Manzanilla with Frenc Onion soup. Maybe dry Oloroso depending the amount of caremalisation and red wine etc. If those flavours are very light then the Manzanilla.

Lustau includes some higher end sherries in their range and is fairly widely available I think.

I have Lustau in my cellar, but I never considered them anything more than mid-level.

Lustau’s range of VORS sherries are delicious. I haven’t seen them in North America, but tasting them at the bodega was a real treat and I was able to bring back a couple of bottles. The VORS Palo Cortado, in particular, was a standout.

BTW, the La Bota 69 from magnum was awesome. I’ve still got about a quarter of it left, so I’ll write a note later tonight so you have a reference, David. Not sure if you’ve had the opportunity to taste it?

A couple of notes. While #37 is a Manzanilla (that is, from Sanlucar), and thus from palomino grapes rather than PX, it is an amontillado, and rather old at about 18 years (older than many if not most olorosos); this is a substantial and richly-flavored wine.


As for Lustau, while my experience is limited to about a dozen bottlings, and the USA selection, they seem to be a top-quality “commercial” house. I think their regular range offers reliable wine at fair prices, and generally a cut above most other giant outfits. They also have a boutique line labeled “Almacenista”, small production wines wherein the producer and origin are specified on the label. I have enjoyed a few of these, they are priced right up there with many EN wines, and they are very good but I think not quite as distinctive as most EN (perhaps Lustau has a “house style”?).

EN is largely an outlier, while they have started to participate in a few projects, most of their line (like #37) consists strictly of finished wine, purchased and bottled. Although they are very particular and the quality is in general sky-high (and they are expensive), they offer an advantage to a USA consumer in that they aggressively import almost every bottling; I have had the opportunity to drink more great EN wines than all other top-end Jerez combined.

I love the 37, it’s both a beautiful Amontillado and a sentimental favorite as it was my superstorm Sandy wine. Had a glass most evenings for the duration of the power outage when I wasn’t opening my wine refrigerators.

David - I didn’t realize you were a Sherry fan. If you ever make it down to the NYC area again I’ll try and remember that.

I have Lustau in my cellar, but I never considered them anything more than mid-level.

Not at all. The way sherry is produced/marketed is quite different from other wine, so if you grow the grapes you’re usually not the place to “grow” the sherry. Lustau offers its services to what we would consider small producers if they were in Paso Robles or Sonoma. So in addition to its large commercial line, Lustau has a wonderful range of small-production sherries, that you might consider something like “grower” sherries.

Thanks Jay. I really like the stuff a lot. Wish I could buy more of it. Damned stuff is hard to find. Even Chambers does not have much these days.

You might check Flatiron. Susannah is Sherry fan and has a very nice selection there. If you’re in the mood to splurge they still have the
Valdespino, Palo Cortado “Macharnudo Alto”, 2000 (375mL) for $168
which is absolutely magical. I tried it at Sherryfest and bought one. To the best of my knowledge only 3 half bottles came into the US.
They also have a lot of excellent but more sensibly priced options.

Thanks Jay.

That 69 is an awesome wine! Still haven’t tasted anything but greatness from EN. Will taste their new stuff 71-72-73-74 next Friday.