Jay Miller
Jay Miller
I had to work the day and evening of the Grand Tasting unfortunately but was able to attend two events.
First up was a fantastic and fascinating tasting of the rare Gonzalez Byass vintage Sherries. One of my favorite Sherries in general, I'd only had 1 of the vintages on offer previously. The head winemaker, Antonio Flores, was a funny and informative host (after translation).
1. Sobretablas (Palamino base wine) - nice, light, rainwaery scent. with air it's almost riesling like. quite pleasant, light wine.
2. 1994 Palo Cortado - beautiful pure nose, soft hazelnuts. On the palate- wow! magically complex, nutty and citrussy with a long regal finish. Not yet released. I can't wait.
3. 1989 Oloroso - slighly more reticent nose, earthier adn still beautiful. On the palate it's long, rich and loamy with warming toasted hazelnuts. Not yet released. I can't wait.
4. 1982 Palo Cortado - a wine I love and own (and which is currently available from Spanish Table). But I just admit that while it was beautiful and eminently satisfying it was probably the least interesting wine in the lineup.
5. 1975 Palo Cortado - very nice nose but with a slighly offputting sour note. Wild lithe wine on the plate. Love this but unlikely to find it anywhere. It became a lusher wine with the olives and more graceful with the manchego.
6. 1967 Medium - this was made into an Amaroso with the addition of 5% PX and 10% Moscatel. dusty earth with with shoots of springtime green on the nose. Intense and acidic, not showing its 100g/l of sugar. I wasn't that fond of it on the palate (it seemed in the bitter digestif category) until I tried it with an almond and which point it becomes arresting. Trying with an olive gives a similar transformation.
Unfortunately, since I really wanted to know what wine would be released next and when, Antonio Flores only took questions from attractive women.
Next was a somewhat disappointing dinner at Huertas - Barbadillo and Emilio Hidalgo. The private room was attractive visually but both overly warm and
incredibly noisy. This probably impacted my enjoyment of the Sherries. The food was good but generally a poor wine match (strong blue cheese with Palo Cortado?).
I enjoyed the Hidalgo wines more than the Barbadillo wines across the board. More depth and complexity. I don't know the filtering regimen at Barbadillo but
assuming it wasn't entirely due to the adverse environmental conditions for my palate they should cut back on it.
This will also teach me to read more carefully, when I signed up for the dinner I thought it was for Bodegas Hidalgo - one of my favorite producers.
On the plus side I sat across from a very nice couple who may attend some of our future Sherry dinners!
Barbadillo Solear Manzanilla - not much on the nose. pleasant but no more on the palate. served too cold
Hidalgo Fino La Panesa - nice if a tad unexciting
Barbadillo Amontillado Principe -quite nice, a definite step up. clean and incisive
Hidalgo Amontillado Tresillo - very nice and one I'd consider buying depending on price. apparently it's named after a card game that used to be played in the solera
Barbadillo Obispo Bascon - nice, but again, unexciting.
Hidalgo Oloroso Villapanes - very good, my WOTN
Barbadillo Special Palo Cortado VORS - best of the Barbadillos but there are a lot of other PC VORS wines I'd drink in preference. But I'm probably not being fair given that it was served next to a strong blue cheese.
First up was a fantastic and fascinating tasting of the rare Gonzalez Byass vintage Sherries. One of my favorite Sherries in general, I'd only had 1 of the vintages on offer previously. The head winemaker, Antonio Flores, was a funny and informative host (after translation).
1. Sobretablas (Palamino base wine) - nice, light, rainwaery scent. with air it's almost riesling like. quite pleasant, light wine.
2. 1994 Palo Cortado - beautiful pure nose, soft hazelnuts. On the palate- wow! magically complex, nutty and citrussy with a long regal finish. Not yet released. I can't wait.
3. 1989 Oloroso - slighly more reticent nose, earthier adn still beautiful. On the palate it's long, rich and loamy with warming toasted hazelnuts. Not yet released. I can't wait.
4. 1982 Palo Cortado - a wine I love and own (and which is currently available from Spanish Table). But I just admit that while it was beautiful and eminently satisfying it was probably the least interesting wine in the lineup.
5. 1975 Palo Cortado - very nice nose but with a slighly offputting sour note. Wild lithe wine on the plate. Love this but unlikely to find it anywhere. It became a lusher wine with the olives and more graceful with the manchego.
6. 1967 Medium - this was made into an Amaroso with the addition of 5% PX and 10% Moscatel. dusty earth with with shoots of springtime green on the nose. Intense and acidic, not showing its 100g/l of sugar. I wasn't that fond of it on the palate (it seemed in the bitter digestif category) until I tried it with an almond and which point it becomes arresting. Trying with an olive gives a similar transformation.
Unfortunately, since I really wanted to know what wine would be released next and when, Antonio Flores only took questions from attractive women.
Next was a somewhat disappointing dinner at Huertas - Barbadillo and Emilio Hidalgo. The private room was attractive visually but both overly warm and
incredibly noisy. This probably impacted my enjoyment of the Sherries. The food was good but generally a poor wine match (strong blue cheese with Palo Cortado?).
I enjoyed the Hidalgo wines more than the Barbadillo wines across the board. More depth and complexity. I don't know the filtering regimen at Barbadillo but
assuming it wasn't entirely due to the adverse environmental conditions for my palate they should cut back on it.
This will also teach me to read more carefully, when I signed up for the dinner I thought it was for Bodegas Hidalgo - one of my favorite producers.
On the plus side I sat across from a very nice couple who may attend some of our future Sherry dinners!
Barbadillo Solear Manzanilla - not much on the nose. pleasant but no more on the palate. served too cold
Hidalgo Fino La Panesa - nice if a tad unexciting
Barbadillo Amontillado Principe -quite nice, a definite step up. clean and incisive
Hidalgo Amontillado Tresillo - very nice and one I'd consider buying depending on price. apparently it's named after a card game that used to be played in the solera
Barbadillo Obispo Bascon - nice, but again, unexciting.
Hidalgo Oloroso Villapanes - very good, my WOTN
Barbadillo Special Palo Cortado VORS - best of the Barbadillos but there are a lot of other PC VORS wines I'd drink in preference. But I'm probably not being fair given that it was served next to a strong blue cheese.