Grape - Palomino
Alcohol - 19% abv
From - Waitrose
Price - £9.75
Appearance - Clear, medium intensity, amber
Nose - Clean; intentionally oxidised; developed; nuts and grapes
Palate - dry; medium+ acid; high alcohol; full bodied; medium intensity; medium+ length, at least; nuts (hazelnuts, almond), blackstrap molasses.
Balance - 5 Length - 8 Intensity - 6 Complexity - 7
This is a really good, grown-up bottle of sherry at a great price. It was the perfect match for the cashew nut paella that I prepared for dinner (or tea, for Northern readers!). In fact, what else could we have had with it? Having considered what a big element of the flavour reminded me of, I came very much to the conclusion that it was blackstrap molasses, although this wine is not at all what you would call sweet.
The solera system is where sherry producers blend younger wines over time, usually annually, to their product, thus producing a final wine that is hopefully consistent. Sherry's distinct flavour is caused by deliberate oxidisation, that is that it is allowed to 'go off'. This makes sherry the delight it is, but would be grim with many other wines. If you have a wine that has been exposed to air for so long, you might notice that the smell becomes similar to sherry.
No comments:
Post a Comment