About this WINE
Palomino Fino
Palomino, named after Fernan Yanez Palomonio, one of King Alfonso X`s knights, is the primary grape variety for Sherry styles (Fino, Manzanilla, Amontillado, Oloroso, Palo Cortado) production.
It is a high yielding variety that is widely planted in Spain producing mostly insipid thin, dull wines lacking in fruit and acidity. However it thrives on the predominantly chalk based soils of Cadiz where it produces large bunches of golden yellow grapes, which ripen in early September. The resulting must is transparent in colour and somewhat neutral in flavour, but the subsequent wine can develop a coating of flor before maturing in the solera system and produce a whole range of intense and aromatic sherries.
It is also grown in South Africa, California, and Australia where it is fortified to make sherry-style wines.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
I have to confess to having something of a Sherry habit, and was mortified when my chosen Berry Bros. & Rudd example was briefly unavailable earlier this year. Salvation is at hand, with the recently-arrived new incarnation of this favourite, arguably more classically formed and profound than ever. Sherry is probably the most under-valued fine wine in the world (very fortunate, as I average a bottle a week – or thereabouts), with levels of complexity and persistence that would command a ten-fold increase in price were they sourced from Bordeaux or Burgundy. Berry Bros. & Rudd Dry Oloroso has a nose suggestive of something sweet, with its notes of walnuts and dried fruit, so the lack of sweetness on the palate is initially something of a shock. As the layers of flavour unfold in your mouth, this is clearly a very different wine from a more commercial sweetened cream Sherry. In addition to the nuts and raisined-depth, there is a haunting toffee-sweetness on the palate of this dry wine. The finish persists for an age.
When to drink this gem: before dinner with some salted almonds or olives works, as does afterwards, with some walnuts. Oloroso is also surprisingly good with robust meat dishes. The oxidative aging on this wine means that, unlike Fino or Manzanilla – which should be consumed within a day or so of opening – this wine will continue to give pleasure for up to a week after first being broached.
Martin Hudson MW
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