Sherry – A Criminal Investigation!

A Sherry tasting with Dr Jesús Barquí, Equipo Navazos.
Taberna Wine Bar, 15th Feb 2011

It is a crime that Sherry wines have been ignored for so long, so who better to host a Sherry masterclass than Dr Jesús Barquí, professor of criminology at the University of Granada.

Dr Barqui's passion for sherry has developed so much over the years that he has gone from part-time wine writer to expert in his field. Not surprising, perhaps, for a man that prides himself on gathering and imparting knowledge in his day job, but Jesús has gone about this a slightly different way. He and some like-minded Sherry fans decided to buy (and bottle) a barrel of 20 year old Amontillado!

This was in 2005, and since then the wild purchase has developed from a one off act for the pleasure of friends, to a project that has evolved into more commercial scale bottlings. Saying that, the scale is still tiny and the wines very rare (2,000 – 5,000 bottles per release) so the opportunity of trying some of these Sherries with the man himself could not be missed!

Jesús calls these wines his “children”, such is his pride in their development. He corrects himself later, using the description “adopted-children”, for these are wines created by the best Sherry bodegas – he just adopts them and nurtures them like his own. Along with his friend and business partner, Eduardo Ojeda, technical director of Grupo Estevez, he has chosen not only the best Soleras (groups of barrels) that Sherry has to offer, but also the best barrels with in those Soleras!

We start with some bubbly – not Champagne of course, maybe some Cava? No! This is a brand new experience! These are  two sparkling wines made by Equipo Navazos in a joint venture with Colet Vins:
The wines are of the Penedés appellation (near Barcelona) as they are made with wines from the north. However the magic is in the Sherry wines that are added at dosage stage and this why the wine stands out. Dosage is the addition of wine and/or sugar in the traditional method of making Champagne and sparkling wine. Here, they add Sherry wine but no sugar. - This is Brut Zero – a slimmer's drink!

COLET-NAVAZOS 2007 Extra Brut. Made from mainly the Xarel.lo grape in an oxidative style (letting air gently change the wine's chemistry) It was cellared for 29 months before it was disgorged in October 2010. The nose is raisin, honeysuckle, oats and nuts with a dry palate and a smooth creamy finish. Touches of caramel come from the dosage.

COLET-NAVAZOS Reserva 2006 Extra Brut. Made from mainly Chardonnay in a  Flor-yeasts style (letting the wine mature under a protective layer of naturally occuring yeast). It was cellared for 41 months before it was disgorged in October 2010. On the nose it is more fragrant, more reminiscent of Champagne, with apricot, lime, stone fruits and oats. There are apricots on the palate with yeasty, creamy flavours to counter the crisp acidity.

Jesús introduces us to another rare experience; sampling a non-fortified cask-fermented wine made with the Sherry grape Palamino Fino. Made in collaboration with Niepoort of Portugal, the NAVAZOS − NIEPOORT 2009 is full of complexity from it's ageing under Flor yeast. The style harks back to traditional wine-making in the Sherry area and is made to highlight the terroir of the chalky soils.

The aromas are of rum and raisin chocolate, un-ripe banana and figs. It is nutty like walnut with orange zest, fig and bay on the palate. The finish has a mild numbing effect on the tongue!

The next two wines are Fino-style Sherrys: here the wines develop under a layer of the Flor yeast. They both use grapes from the Macharnudo Alto vineyards and are unfiltered to show terroir character (or, their “upbringing”, to use Jesús' metaphor). We get to compare two different extractions; this is the date when the Sherry is taken from the barrel.

The LA BOTA DE FINO  (nº 15) was extracted in June 2008. It has a nose of marmalade and caramelised banana but also savoury. Notes of hay, oats, mineral and sesame are on the palate.
However, the LA BOTA DE FINO  (nº 18) ,extracted in December 2009, shows more raisiny, smoky characters and is richer, but with a cleansing minerality.
The differences are very interesting!

We get to sample LA BOTA DE FINO (AMONTILLADO) nº 24  next. This is a Fino, but is on it's way to becoming an Amontillado. Amontillado is a Sherry that develops from a Fino as the Flor breaks down gradually and the wine has more contact with the air. It is made in Montilla, which holds the best Pedro Ximénez (a sweet grape) vineyards and their chalky soils. Estimated at over 20 years old, this is still a Fino but the fragile flor has thinned during the wine's ageing which darkens and hightens the richer flavours.
The wine is nutty, salty and buttery with a slightly vegetal nature but has Christmas Cake aromas and a doughy yeastiness.

As a comparison there is LA BOTA DE AMONTILLADO (nº 23) which is a straight Amontillado. This is a very old wine, although Jesús doesn't say exactly how old. The ageing brings out more toffee notes and burnt orange, like a Terry's Dark Chocolate Orange (if you've had one!) There are also nuts, raisins, hay and a smokiness.

Jesús gives us two more wines to compare, made in the same way as Fino, but hailing from Sanlúcar and called Manzanilla. These wines are renowned for their freshness, enabled by the delicate natural Flor that is created by a moist climate influenced by the proximity to sea breezes. Some say you can taste the sea in it's salty minerality.

LA BOTA DE MANZANILLA (nº 16) extracted Jan 2009. This is aged Manzanilla so there is raisin on the nose and fullness on the body. There is definitely a briney quality to the wine and a smoothness. There are also faint hints of Banoffee Pie on the nose giving this a very different quality than your average Manzanilla style wine that is drunk young.

LA BOTA DE MANZANILLA (nº 22) extracted May 2010. There are hazelnuts, apricots and toasted almonds on the nose and palate. There is a slight herbal quality on the finish, reminiscent of the tongue-numbing sparkling wine earlier but this time like spearmint.

Palo Cortado is a natural style of Sherry, somewhere between a Fino / Amontillado and a Oloroso;  the protective flor dies and the wine begins to age oxidatively giving it elegance, complexity and body. Oloroso is a deeper coloured, richer Sherry that is produced without the influence of Flor. It is fortified to around 18% as opposed to Fino fortification of 15.5%.

LA BOTA DE PALO CORTADO (nº 21) Raisin and almond on the nose but with some oxidative toasty notes. There are toasted marshmallow and sweet pastry flavours countering the dry style.

LA BOTA DE OLOROSO VIEJÍSIMO  (nº 14)  An impeccable wine with real age and concentration. This oloroso is nutty, smoky and meaty and there are hints of paprika.

We are treated to some chunky slabs of Iberico Ham with melting strips of fat that go perfectly with the wine! The meat brings out a sweetness in the wine and it dawns on me that at some stage I want to do this whole tasting again... with food! The matches could be heavenly as these are amazing food-wines.

Lastly we have LA BOTA DE PEDRO XIMÉNEZ (nº 25) from Montilla-Moriles – a dessert in a glass! Probably well over 30 years old, and from barrels separated from the usual routine of Solera topping up, it is as pure an expression of the sun-dried grapes and terroir as possible.

There is a popcorn nose, with raisin and prune. The palate is dense with prune, fig and treacle but has an acidity that also refreshes. Sometimes Pedro Ximenez can be cloying in it's richness but not so here!
As you can see, there are many styles of Sherry; serious wine makers and connoisseurs are seeking new and interesting expressions of Sherry and changing the way we think about this classic wine.

So, do some detective work and find some criminally-good Sherries! These work well on their own, as an aperitif and match all kinds of seafood and spicy meats. And at these prices, you'll feel like someone's been robbed, and for once it isn't you!