Dave Worthington
Cillar de Silos Crianza 2006
Cillar de Silos is an old favourite, and this 2006 is showing very well. It was a challenging vintage, but the guys here seem to have to made all the right decicions and have producded something well worth drinking and cellaring over the short term.
Gonzalez Byass ‘Solera 1847′ Oloroso Dulce
Yes, its time for another cream sherry tasting note. This one kicks goals however…A buggar to take photos of though.
Augusti Torello Mata Reserva 2005
I like some bubbles on a Friday night, its always a good way to kick of the weekend I have been drinking a bit of the Raventos i Blanc Reserva 2005 and needed something a bit different so I grabbed a bottle of this fairly new import from The Spanish Aquisition. I tend to favour the more focused and lower dosage sparkling wines, and this pressed all the right buttons.
Gonzalez Byass ‘Elegante’ Sweet Cream
Cream sherry is the quintessential ‘Nana’ sherry. It’s what many people reference of when they think of sherry, the big jugs of McWilliams Cream Sherry sitting at the bottom of cupboard that their grandmother used ‘just for cooking’. More often than not, if I give someone a glass of good sherry, more often than not I’ll get a comment about drinking it withnana in the kitchen while no-one was looking. Anyway, this is another blend of PX and palomino sherry, but it works a bit better than the last one.
An Negra Vit ‘Son Negre’ 2005
This is the top shelf offering from An Negra Vit. It’s made from the best three vineyards these guys have access to with an average vine age of 55 years. What makes these vineyards special is the cooling sea breeze at night that cools the vines down from the heat of the day. Crop levels are kept at around half a kilo per vine and the juice is fermented in 3000 litre wooden vats. As with the AN, the oak treatment is 17 months in new french oak. There is something almost Italian with the flavour profile of these wines, however the wine is very fine and smouth and the level of extraction just right.
Gonzales Byass ‘Elegante’ Medium Dry Amontillado
Now, this is a blend of Amontillado and PX. I’m not too sure on why Gonzales Byass has a fascination with adding PX to perfectly good Palomino based sherry, but here is another example.
An Negra Vit ‘AN’ 2005
When most Aussie think of Mallorca they think of Christopher Skase, perhaps a party island culture, and maybe a boat load of poms completely binned out of their brains on the beach. But not wine. I’ve known that wine was made here but I never had an idea of the quality available. If it’s anything like this stuff, bring it on.
Gonzalez Byass ‘Matusalem’ Oloroso Dulce
I have a box full of fortifieds to get through at the moment, mostly sherry but also some fondillion from Alicante. Plus I was lucky enough to be invited to a Quinta do Noval masterclass a couple of weeks ago. So if you’re a fortified fan you’ll be in for a treat over the next couple of weeks. Lets kick things off with this Oloroso Dolce. It’s part of the Solera Excusiva range, which are the older wines from GB, usually 30+ years old.
Tio Pepe Fino (375ml)
I got home last night and decided that a bit of cooked up chorizo and some mushrooms in cream and garlic was the menu for dinner. The mushrooms need a splash of sherry or wine, so what better excuse to open a bottle. Plus I have some Tio Pepe copitas I bought back from Spain years ago, so Tio Pepe was the drink of choice…
Vintage Cellars Tasting
Last Wednesday night I took a short trip out to Camberwell to taste through most Vintage Cellar’s Spanish and Portugues range. Its quite a big range and it’s fairly much all come about in the past year, increasing from about 7 wine to around 30 with more on the way. A few Tinto y Blanco readers came along for the fun, which was great.
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