15 Wednesday Sep 2021
Posted in sevilla, sherry, sherry week, tapas, tapas bars
A few scenes from yesterday’s Sevilla Sherry Tasting… my first this year and it was so much fun. My new venue for this is the fabulous Casa Morales, and I couldn’t be happier. Great location with excellent wines and tapas. Salud! đ„
22 Thursday Jul 2021
18 Thursday Mar 2021
Is it an Oloroso? Is it an Amontillado? Usually you hear these questions asked about Palo Cortado wines, but now they are equally valid for this new wine from Bodegas Yuste in SanlĂșcar de Barrameda. So move over Palo Cortado, there’s a new Mystery Wine in town.
Introducing Conde de Aldama Raya Cortada, created by Gabriel Raya and winemaker Miguel Villa. An oxidatively aged oloroso that is magically transformed after four years so that it finishes ageing biologically, a feat only possible thanks to the unique microclimate of SanlĂșcar and a special super yeast that can withstand higher levels of alcohol.
I was lucky enough to taste it yesterday at Bodeguita Romero with my friend Reyes Morales (Casa Morales). Very smooth and caramelly… oloroso nose and amontillado in the mouth? Not sure… I’ll need to try it again. And again.
For now only 600 bottles of this mysterious miracle have been produced. There is still no date for the next bottling but Gabriel says it won’t be soon, so try and get hold of some now, if you can.
The photo below is courtesy of Bodegas Yuste. A new chalk mark design for this new groundbreaking wine. They are using the typical diagonal line (raya) that is used for oloroso (which then has an O in the middle of it). Here they have crossed (or cut) the raya with another line, similar to the palo cortado (cut stick) symbol, except it only cuts far enough to show it’s no longer an oloroso and also creating a Y (for Yuste?). Not sure if that last bit was intentional. And of course Gabriel’s surname is Raya, so it all fits. There are 36 casks set aside in a separate solera for producing raya cortada. Exciting times.
03 Wednesday Mar 2021
Got my first sherry kit! The idea is to maybe try doing sherry tastings on Zoom, though I hate doing videos even more than I hate having my photo taken (and that’s a lot!). But I finally tried out Zoom a couple of weeks ago for the first time, having drinks and chatting with a couple of friends and, well, it didn’t kill me. There are logistics to work out, like getting these kits to people who want to participate in the tasting, and also to send out a list of snacks for them to have on hand for pairings.
From what I understand from friends who do either cooking classes or wine tastings on Zoom is that they are not really viable as a way to actually make money, but it’s a good way to connect and stay in touch with people, either friends or clients. So I am going to do a “trial tasting” with a few friends to see exactly what the costs are re: the kits and shipping. I’m already nervous…
05 Friday Feb 2021
Tags
delgado zuleta, fino, juan piñero, manzanilla, sherry, wine
So it used to be Fino Friday and Manzanilla Monday, but now going with Flor Friday (flor refers to the layer of yeast that forms over the biologically aged sherries in the barrel) because it means I have more options. In this case I ended up trying two outstanding sherries – a fino and a manzanilla – on the same day, which doesn’t happen often.
Twelve-year-old Camborio fino en rama by Bodegas Juan PinÌero @bjuanpinero was bottled last October, in the style of the old school fino amontillados. Gorgeous colour, with great texture and depth of flavour. The name (and quote on the bottle) comes from a character in the Romancero Gitano by Federico GarcĂa Lorca.
Cuestecilla manzanilla by Bodegas Delgado Zuleta @delgadozuleta is one of 600 numbered bottles from a barrel that came from the old Cuestecilla bodega (demolished in 2007) in the Barrio Alto of SanlĂșcar de Barrameda. You hear a lot of “this is like drinking straight from the barrel” claims with en rama sherries but this one totally took me back to SanlĂșcar.
casa azahar 