Sherries to the fore at the Big Fortifed Tasting

Jerez: 

The annual Big Fortified Tasting (BFT), held in London, is always a great opportunity to taste some really interesting fortified wines. However since the wines are high in alcohol, there is a limit to the number I can comfortably taste, even though I am careful to spit out. This year I chose to concentrate on some of the excellent range of sherries on show choosing to taste from those bodegas that I haven't visited during the #winelover trip to Jerez in mid-February. I then finished with the Quevedo Ports that Oscar Quevedo was showing. 

Firstly – Bodegas Tradición

This is a small bodega, which has recently been revived, but that dates back to 1650. I tasted a lovely fresh, complex Fino, a good Amontillado and a very special Oloroso – see below. 

 

A series of great sherries from Viniberia, selected by Peter Dauthieu:

Attractive, fresh but characterful Fino from Sánchez Romate – just £8.50 a bottle from The Wine Society.

Excellent Amontillado from Sánchez Romate – lovely nutty, texture.

Palo Cortado – an attractive and striking blend of rich texture and an austere finish.
 

Very fine aged Oloroso – texture with a lovely blend of richness, power and austerity. £40 a bottle from The Wine Society.

Valdespino – one of my favourite Sherry producers:

The 2015 Manzanilla En Rama showing brilliantly at the moment. 

Palo Cortado Viejo: lovely balance of power and texture.

Two very special Sherries with concentration, texture and impressive length.

Ports from Quevedo: 

From Port producer Quevedo I particularly enjoyed the complex 30 Year Old Port as well as the dense Crusted Port with its preserved cherry character. 

#winelovers in Jerez: Day 2 – Barbadillo and Delgado Zuleta, Sanlucar de Barrameda

 Sanlucar de Barrameda and the sea's influence on Manzanilla  

Yesterday we had another great day very well organised by Valeska and Fernando of Paladar y Tomar. Two visits in Sanlucar de Barrameda to learn about Manzanilla and why it is different to the wines from Jerez. Our first visit was to Barbadillo, whose range I partly knew already especially Solear, and then later we went to Degado Zuleta, a completely new bodega to me but with some very impressive wines offering fantastic value. 

 

Barbadillo and its leading fino brand 

 

Montse Molina: 

 the first female winemaker in the Jerez region  

 

 

 

Ricardo, his plate trick and and matching fire extinguisher

Amando Guerra, director division alta enologia

Delgado Zuleta

Emma

 Salvador Real – Delgado Zuleta's winemaker 

#winelover 4th anniversary celebrations – practising Jerez....

 

Two Manzanillas: Solear and Duque

 

In so many endeavours practice is extremely important.... fortunately we had time yesterday evening to put in a last minute workout before heading to Jerez today.  

A visit to El Corte Inglés provided us with two Manzanillas to try – Solear by Barbadillo (€6.55) and Duque from Sanchez Romate for just €3.99. Both were characteristically clean and salty. The Solear did more depth and layers so merited the higher price. Duque, however, at €3.99 is remarkably good for the price and represents excellent value. Whether this is really profitable for Sanchez Romate and good for the image of wines from Jerez is quite another matter. 

Tesco's bargain Finest Sherry range on special offer

Special Reserve Amontillado from Barbadillo 

Have recently discovered excellent Tesco's range of Finest Special Reserve Sherries sourced from Bodegas Barbadillo. We are been enjoying their Manzanilla, Fino and Amontillado – all in handy 50cl bottles. There is also a dry Oloroso and a cream in the range. The normal price is £6.40 but there is £2 off until 13th August, so £4.40 – a real snip! For the quality £6.40 is a good deal but the special offer@£4.40 makes it a real bargain.

 Special Reserve Fino

Special Reserve Manzanilla

There's only one Javier Hidalgo!! And he is not praising Pancho Campo!

Is there more than one Javier Hidalgo in the wine trade or was this a dirty trick?

Following Pancho Campo resigning his MW, Rupert Millar wrote a news item for The Drinks Business on 3rd May 2012. The first comment posted (see below) was very supportive of Campo and was signed by a 'Javier Hidalgo'. Several of us, including myself assumed that this was Javier Hidalgo of Bodegas Hidalgo La Gitana, the producer of fine Manzanilla in Sanlúcar de Barrameda.  

'Javier Hidalgo says:

May 3, 2012 at 5:47 pm

That is terrible news for the IMW. I hope Campo continues organizing those huge events like Winefuture and bringing people like Al Gore and Kofi Annan to our sometimes boring industry. A change was needed as well as fresh blood but it seems the establishment does not like too much “rock&roll” and innovation. I get the impression that being a former athlete, rock promoter and outspoken with the image of a latin lover did not went down well in certain areas of the industry. Good luck Pancho Campo.'

Six days later Javier Hidalgo of La Gitana posted this comment on the Drinks Business story:

'Javier Hidalgo says:

May 9, 2012 at 7:25 am

This is Javier Hidalgo, from Bodegas Hidalgo La Gitana, Sanlúcar de Barrameda.
Just to make clear that I have not written any message in this blog or in any other regarding the Campo affair.

Someone has been using my name or there is another javier hidalgo in the wine industry.

I hope that my friends and colleagues in the Wine Trade don’t get confused, especially you, Jim. My feeling about Campo is far away from positioning myself to praise him.'

So is there another Javier Hidalgo or did a Campo supporter assume Javier's identity?  The initial poster has been traced – they have a gmail account and are based in Malaga.  

Perhaps our Malaga friend would care to clear up the confusion...