Valdespino

The history of Valdespino, at least as participants in the wine business in Jerez, goes back to the 1430. It's a lineage that goes back a good bit further than that of any other bodega in sherry country. Valdespino's history as a sherry producing bodega, however, can be traced back to 1875. Since 1999, Valdespino has been owned by Grupo Estevez, a large company with other interests in Jerez (primarily Real Tesoro) as well as a business breeding Andalusian horses. With over 25,000 barrels, a few large bodegas to age their various sherries, and a huge bottling facility, Grupo Estevez is a medium large producer by Jerez standards (which makes them very large by any other measure). That having been said, Valdespino is still amongst the best houses in sherry, definitely the crown jewel among the products in the Grupo Estevez portfolio. If you follow Equipo Navazos' bottlings, you will recognize Valdespino from their fino, amontillado and palo cortado editions.

A few factors help to define Valdespino's sherries and make them amongst the best around:

1.) Valdespino owns a 56 hectare vineyard in Marcharnudo Alto, regarded as the best district for growing palomino grapes in Jerez.
2.) All estate fruit is used, fermentation occurs on-site next to the bodegas where soleras are held (both of these situations are rare in Jerez; even the boutique bodegas generally buy wine from growers)
3.) Fermentation occurs in old wood 600 liter botas - everywhere else fermentation is in stainless steel tanks. I'd be curious to see exactly how this affects the flavor profile, but until the winery does an experimental solera of fino inocente from inox fermented wine (which to my knowledge they have no plans to do) I guess I will never know.
4.) LONG AGEING. Even their fino (Inocente) has ten criaderas, whereas most commercial finos only employ four. Fino Inocente is an older, richer, but yet still mineral and very fresh fino. This of course forms the base of their amontillados and palo cortados, also tops.

Though I was familiar with the Fino Inocente (my favorite fino) as well as the solera 1842 (a lightly sweetened VOS oloroso with terrific, rancio, walnut character), I had yet to try Tio Diego Amontillado, which I tasted at the winery. For an amontillado, it is still very fresh, not too heavily marked by wood, and very reminiscent of the Inocente. In fact, you might even refer to it as a fino amontillado given the lighter color and strong fino character of the wine. It averages 14 years old, 7-8 years of which it spends as a fino, so the "fino amontillado" description seems to make sense.

Unfortunately, there was no time to linger over palo cortado and dry oloroso this time. Maybe on another visit....






Next up: Gonzalez Byass is pronounced "BEE-yahs" and makes more than Tío Pepe.

Sherry: Some useful symbols and definitions

Here are just a handful of useful definitions. If you're more of a pictures type of person, then scroll down to get to some very cool, artfully drawn symbols which were used in a sherry seminar I participated in.
Capataz - the cellar manager, and most importantly the person who determines a base wine's initial categorization (fino or oloroso)

Crianza biológica - ageing under flor as is practiced for fino and for amontillado

Crianza oxidativa - oxidative ageing as is practiced for amontillado, oloroso, palo cortado and pedro ximenez

Criadera - The "escalas" or stages of a solera system. 1era, 2nda, 3era, etc. The more the number goes up, the further away you are from the actual solera level, or the source of the finished sherry.

Sobretabla - a young, recently fortified wine which is ready to enter into a solera system.

Solera - 1.) the system in which a sherry is made; 2.) the entire group of criaderas that produces a particular wine, usually given a name that appears on what is commercially bottled (e.g. Valdespino Fino Inocente); 3.) the last barrel(s) of a group of criaderas, which will be bottled and released to market.

Almacenista - Someone who makes sherry, stores/ages it, and sells it on to sherry shippers (whose name is the one that appears on the bottle). Lustau has trademarked the term "almacenista."

Rocio - Transferring of wine to refresh a criadera or the solera itself.

Palo cortado - classically defined as a potential fino whose flor dies off prematurely, enabling it to possibly be categorized as "palo cortado" after some oxidative ageing. Many different definitions exist for this style; the explanation you receive really depends upon whom you ask.

Amoroso, generoso, abocado, pata de gallina - all terms referring to a lightly sweetened (through the addition of PX) sherry. Pata de gallina is the least sweet of these (Lustau's Almacenista Pata de Gallina is a good example)








Next up: the venerable Valdespino....

Next Week: Sherry, in depth

"Sherry is a hell of a drug."

- Adapted from Dave Chapelle, adapted from Rick James

My last visit in Spain was up high in the rugged area ascending the mountains from Guardiola de Font Rubi, approximately 30 km southwest of Barcelona. Oriol Illa, one third of the team at Els Jelpins, was describing the wine list at his buddy's restaurant in Sant Feliu de Guixols, a seaside town in northern Catalunya, closer to Girona. The list consists of roughly 85% Burgundy, 10% Andalucía (sherry), and 5% everything else. "Don't you think your list is a bit unbalanced?" Oriol asked on one occasion (Oriol himself used to own a restaurant and has built up a wine program of his own).

"No,not really," replied the restaurant owner. "These are the wines I like."

Sherry, in its myriad styles, is a wine that I too like, perhaps enough to entertain opening a spot with a similarly out of balance wine list like Oriol's friend. My relationship to sherry has lasted about 12 years. And it has taken much of that time to even begin to scratch the surface and start to understand these wines. Visiting the region last month was obviously extremely helpful. The great appeal of sherry, to me, is its endless complexity, as well as its uncanny, sneaky, slow burning appeal. I was never bitten by the sherry bug, instead, I remained loyal and curious. For anyone who regularly drinks wine, carefully considers it, and merely appreciates sherry, you might want to be careful about exposing yourself more regularly to it. You will likely get hooked (not that it's a bad thing). After some years of enjoying a fresh fino or manzanilla before a meal, and more recently an amontillado, oloroso or palo cortado anytime, after having read (and re-read) Julian Jeffs' "Sherry," after visiting some cellars both large and small, tasting sobretablas, criaderas, even flor, I can safely say that I'm hooked.

The next batch of blog posts are about sherry. I hope that you enjoy them.

A Detour to Dali-Land

So much for blogging on the regular from España. Lots of good stuff coming up though, with a focus on the famed sherry triangle of Jerez-El Puerto de Santa Maria-Sanlucar, and even a detour outside the triangle to Chipiona.

For now, though, I present to you some crazy surreal shit. All of these were taken in the Theatre-Museum Dali in Figueres.

Jerez sneak preview: A Tale of many Flors

Yes, I'm still alive (though you might not have thought so if you saw me yesterday), yes I'm going to blog while in Spain, and no, I have not seen the illusive VLM at any point on this trip to Spain. He's probably drinking Burgundy somewhere in North Carolina or something. Don't ask him anything about that crazy volatile acidity eating flor.

Not much time to write something now, so how about some pictures in the meantime to tide everyone over, and get back into the creation of content over here.

A view of the catedral (from outside the Alcazar)



A few shots from Valdespino

The Weekend in Drinking

2003 Edi Kante Refosco was pure, focused, and delicious though maybe a bit pricey from what I hear; 2006 Deux Montille Pernand-Vergelesses Sous Fretille initially showed a little too plump, sweet and oaky, though it firmed and brightened up quite nicely after a few days in the fridge; 2000 Quinta do Feital Dorado Vinho Verde (yes, you are reading correctly - a 10 year old vinho verde) really was an interesting wine that grew on me over the several days it was open; 2002 Cazin Cour-Cheverny Cuvee Renaissance was tangy, candied, crystalline deliciousness; the Marco de Grazia Pinot Grigio in the Burgundy bottle was not surprisingly garbage (Josh, good to see you but I neglected to give you shit for this one, so I'm doing it now even though you're not so much up on the blogs...anyway, pinot grigio? Do you not recommend wine to people for a living??); Speziale Rauchbier on draft was smoky, malty perfection in a .5 liter stein.

Let's make it a good week everyone!

This week's Old & Rare: 1957 Calon Segur

Always fun to get a taste of something old at ye olde wine shoppe. This magnum did not have the best fill (mid-shoulder, I think someone who saw it told me), but boy did it show well. Intense, almost pungent, spicy dried cherry aromas, with still plenty of fruit intensity on the palate, with savory, peppery meaty umami notes co-mingling. A wonderful combination of freshness and evolutionary BDX savor. Very tasty, and probably one of the better OLD old Bordeaux I've tasted (though that's an admittedly pretty small group of wines).

Another old Bordeaux tasted earlier in the week, 1983 Chateau Canon St Emilion, was pretty, with very bright and slightly toasty red fruit, but not a whole lot of depth of flavor. A brighter palate impression, though without too much complexity, this wine is likely (I think) showing close to its best these days. Would love to hear other opinions from folks who have tried other bottles.