LOL! I quickly decided I don’t care nearly enough to figure out a pyramid.
Solera casks are not generally stacked together. Sometimes they’re not even in the same cellar.
A pyramid makes one wonder how the barrels at the back are accessed.
Or the ones in the middle!
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Sure. A huge solera could never be anyway.
But there’s still a ‘virtual shape’.
Thanks for sharing the pairings!
I too have found their wines to be better the next day after there has been time to open up a bit. I love this producer and have found their wines to delight many that thought they did not like Sherry.
NV Pérez Barquero Montilla-Moriles Gran Barquero Amontillado Solera 25 Años - Spain, Andalucía, Montilla-Moriles (9/23/2025)
– from a 500mL bottle that has been open for at least a couple weeks, recorked and stored in fridge –
– tasted multiple times over a few weeks, with consistent results –
NOSE: medium rancio note, with a slightly salinic lifted watery varnish note; a bit nutty – hazelnut.
BODY: ruddy amber color of medium+ intensity; medium-light body.
TASTE: tasty, but a bit thin/watery — doesn’t quite have the “oomph” I expect from an excellent Amontillado; dry; tangy; nutty - raw hazelnut butter; touch salty. Very good – almost excellent – but I don’t see myself rebuying @ $28/500 mL.
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Navazos is magical, and Palo Cortado with a Lamb Shank slow braised in Sherry is out of this world.
This is Navazos Palo Cortado 86 Bota NO. A Pedro Ximénez based Palo Cortado from Montilla-Moriles comes from a single cask in Pérez-Barquero’s cellars and was aged 30 years. Saca of October 2018.
Pungent oxidative aromatics concentrated by cask evaporation: burnt orange peel, varnished wood, caramelized walnuts, rusty nails, with hints of garam masala and beef bouillon. Weightless on the palate with a sharp saline edge. Intense salty flavors, walnuts, orange bitters, and iodine, followed by a piercing acidity.
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I finally got to try a Poniente and was very impressed. I tried to order a Palo last year but ideal wines messed up and sent me an Oloroso.
No complaints, it was an ethereal dryish Oloroso that matched perfectly with Peking duck at pings
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Gonzalez Byass palo cortado ‘Leonor’ – very good as an aperitivo
Winery notes it as
Leonor by Antonio Flores is described as the wild child of Jerez. Due to its mysterious aging process it could be described as similar to an Amontillado on the nose and similar to an Oloroso on the palate.
Leonor shows a light mahogany color with golden tones and slightly orange rim. On the nose intense and complex with typical Amontillado notes such as hazelnuts perfectly balanced with other aromas such as bitter orange and mature oak. On the palate powerful and intense with toasted notes yet smooth and silky.
Leonor should be served between 10 and 12 ºC in a small white wine glass. Due to its power and structure this Palo Cortado is perfect with hard cheese, salty caramel, strong meats such as venison and dry aged beef.
2023 Viña Corrales- a single vineyard Fino by Peter Sisseck of Pingus fame. Concentrated, very intense, full of rocks, salt, smoke, butter, rosemary. This is a beautiful wine, but for me the intensity makes it tough to pair with a meal. Perfect for sipping along with olives, nuts, and crackers.
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I assume that Equipo Navazos was excellent — was it?
I just picked up a bottle this weekend so equally invested in the answer here….and what it goes best with. Thanks!
Certainly was! A fairly easy-going example, not lacking at all in depth, but not challenging.
Delicious of course with the superb iberico and manchego, also quite good with the lamb we roasted for dinner. Would have been a great with almost any rich and flavorful game meat, or sweatbreads.
Great - and unsurprising - to hear! I have yet to see that bottling hit the shelves, but will be a buyer if/when I do. As far as that Barbadillo is concerned — I’ve never even heard of that bottling, let alone seen or tried it — it sounds exciting! Thanks for posting about them. 