equipo navazos - European Cellars

Transcription

“Since my early childhood, as fate tossed around human affairs, I have been tossed around in these
parts, and this mountain, visible far and wide from everywhere, is always in your view.”
– Francesco Petrarch, The Ascent of Mont Ventoux, 1336
EQUIPO NAVAZOS
What originally started out as a private buying club for an
outstanding Amontillado located in the cellar of Miguel
Sánchez Ayala, has become one of the most sought after
series of bottlings sourced from, and inspired by the wines
of Jerez and Montilla-Moriles. Jesús Barquín, a professor
of criminal law at the University of Granda and Eduardo
Ojeda, the technical director of Grupo Estévez, guided by
their vast knowledge of, and unparalleled access to, the best
wines, cellars and soleras of the region, have since 2005 assembled one of the finest offerings of Sherries in the market. When word got out about their project, what was once a
hobby became a full-fledged commercial enterprise. Supply
remains limited and demand has only increased.
Since that first cask of Amontillado, labeled simply Bota de
Amontillado no.1 in honor of the short story by Edgar Allan
Poe, each successive bottling as been numbered, bottled en
rama, limited in release and quick to sell out. Not content
with only exploring the possibilities of fortified wines, Equipo has also released brandies, unfortified Palomino Fino
aged under flor, and a couple of PX wines, one dry and one
made from raisined grapes. They have also partnered with
Dirk Niepoort and Quim Vila to make a Vin Jaune styled
Palomino Fino and Sergei Colet to produce a Cava utilizing
flor in the secondary aging of the wine as well as Sherry and
Montilla for the dosage.
E Q U I P O N AVA Z O S – A B A S I C P R I M E R
REGULAR RELEAES
Largest volume releases
Issued on a nearly yearly basis
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Fino en Rama
Manzanilla Navazos
Fino Macharnudo
Florpower
Navazos–Niepoort
Casa del Inca PX
LIMITED
RELEASE
PERIODIC
RELEASE
REGULAR
RELEASE
PERIODIC RELEASES
G LO S S A R Y
Smaller volume releases
Issued once every two years
Fino Amontillado
An archaic term for a style of Fino sherry, that due to the age
of the solera, experiences a weakening of the flor resulting in
a slightly oxidative character to the wine. Can be drunk upon
release or cellared.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Fino Amontillado
Palo Cortado Navazos
Amontillado Sanlucar
Amontillado Navazos
Oloroso Navazos
Colet–Navazos Extra Brut
Colet–Navazos Reserva
LIMITED RELEASES
Smallest volume releases
Single releases that usually do not repeat
•
•
•
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•
Bota Punta
Bota NO
Manzanilla Pasada
Cream
Etc.
Manzanilla Pasada
The Manzanilla equivalent of a Fino Amontillado.
B o ta P u n ta
The last barrel at the bottom of a solera. This barrel is most
frequently refreshed with wine from its own row rather than
fresher wine from the top criadera. It is also exposed to greater
airflow, and due to its easy access, is frequently disturbed
for tasting. These factors combine to make for a wine with a
greater average age, more concentration and a more singular
expression.
B o ta N O
Bota NO is a chalked mark on a barrel that indicated that it
should not be refreshed with any new wine. As each barrel develops its own microbiological ecosystem some are so uniquely
expressive that they are essentially removed from the solera
and allowed to age on their own. These are most frequently
the favorite barrels of the cellar master or owner of the solera.
Like a Bota Punta, a Bota NO contains wine with a greater
average age and concentration.
EUROPEAN CELLARS • ERIC SOLOMON SELECTIONS • 2129 East Seventh Street, Charlotte, NC 28204 • 704.358.1565 • info@europeancellars.com
N AVA Z O S F I N O E N R A M A
Jerez de la Frontera – Cartera and
Macharnudo Alto
S O U R CE
VA R IETIES Palomino Fino, fortified
AGING Solera, average 5 years
A LCO H O L 15%
F
S R P $20
PACKED
12 x 375 ml
R ELEA S E
Regular release, current saca October, 2014
ino en Rama comes from Jerez de la Frontera, the most significant town in the DO for the production of wine and
the origin of the anglicized word, Sherry. It is 100% Palomino Fino from the albariza-rich vineyards of Cartera and
Macharnudo Alto. These are two highly-regarded Pagos within the DO, located just a few kilometers distant from Jerez de
la Frontera.
The Fino En Rama Navazos is harvested by hand and ferments with indigenous yeasts until the base wine, mosto, reaches
12.5% alc/vol at which point it is fortified to 15%. After fortification the wine enters the solera system where it has aged
under a layer of flor for an average of five years. It is therefore a well-aged Fino, far from the decade-long aging of Equipo
Navazos' Fino Macharnudo, but exceeding the minimum legal age for Fino of at least two years. As a result, this wine is
pungent and lively, but also complex and comparatively rich.
ACCOLADES
92 – NV Fino en Rama Saca of October, 2014 – Wine Advocate
91 – NV Fino en Rama Saca of March, 2014 – Wine Advocate
#44 VINO BLANCO FLORPOWER MMX
S O U R CE Sanlúcar vineyards, mainly Pago Miraflores
VA R IETIES
Palomino Fino, unfortified
AGING
Aged under flor 8 months in butts then an additional two years under flor in tank
A LCO H O L 11.5%
SRP
F
$38
PACKED
6 x 750 ml
R ELEA S E
Regular release, bottled June, 2013
or years now Equipo Navazos has made a strong bid for the potential of wines aged under a veil of flor, and at their
natural alcohol by volume levels (i.e. unfortified). This spurred the release of our original Navazos-Niepoort series – the
seventh vintage of which will hit the market in 2015 – as well as a number of experiments researching Palomino Fino further aged in butts and tanks. The evolution of these wines, sourced from different vineyards in the Sherry region, has been
carefully observed for the past several years.
La Bota de Florpower no. 44 MMX is the most refined result from that research effort: an unfortified white wine, exclusively
from the 2010 vintage (a date that cannot be printed on the label due to bureaucratic impediments, hence our use of MMX
on the capsule, cork, and lot number on the back label). Bottled at 11.5% after losing over 1% to the effects of the flor yeasts,
the wine is 100% Palomino Fino sourced from Sanlúcar vineyards (mainly from the Pago Miraflores) and fermented in
stainless steel tanks. After fermentation – towards December 2010 – it was moved to 15 butts where it aged under flor for 8
months. By late July 2011 the wine was transferred to a single stainless steel tank where it remained under the – now milder
and subtler – effects of flor until its bottling on July 23rd, 2013.
ACCOLADES
94 – #44 La Bota de Vino Blanco Florpower MMX – Wine Advocate
# 4 6 O L O R O S O N AVA Z O S
S O U R CE Pérez Barquero – Montilla
VA R IETIES Pedro Ximénez, fortified
AGING Average age of 25 years
A LCO H O L 21%
S R P $80
PACKED
6 x 750 ml
R ELEA S E
Periodic release, bottled June, 2013
U
ntil La Bota de Oloroso 46 “Montilla”, all of our Oloroso releases have been very old wines from tiny productions,
bottled in small formats. We refer to #14 and #28 editions, wines relatively expensive, but a very reasonable price
when you consider their quality, as well as their difficult and costly production. So, we believe it was time to pull a dry old
oloroso, comparatively affordable, in line with La Bota de Palo Cortado 34 “Pata de Gallina” or La Bota de Amontillado 37.
To do so we went to Montilla, at Perez Barquero, where Rafael Córdoba has been controlling vineyards and vintages for
decades with exceptional care and getting truly excellent musts. This is where we source the raw materials for our Casa del
Inca and where we found this Oloroso – a very fragrant and full-bodied wine, that highlights the strong character of the
Pedro Ximénez grape.
La Bota de Oloroso 46 “Montilla” comes from a selection of butts at the Diogenes Solera, located at Bodega El Puente of
Pérez Barquero, in the venerable ‘cachón’ of old PX is, from which was the source, many years ago, of our release – #3
La Bota de Pedro Ximénez “De Rojas” (and a couple years after that, our release #12). The estimated average age of this
Oloroso is around 25 years.
ACCOLADES
94 – #46 La Bota de Oloroso – Wine Advocate
# 5 1 PA L O C O R T A D O B O T A G F
S O U R CE Gaspar Florido / Pedro Romero
AGING Average age between 50–80 years old
A LCO H O L 22%
S R P $150
PACKED
6 x 375 ml
R ELEA S E
Limited release, bottled February, 2014
G
aspar Florido used to market two very old wines sourced from their soleras at their old cellaring facility at calle Rubiños, in the heart of the “Barrio” in Sanlúcar de Barrameda. When they decided to seize the real estate fever and
sell their urban bodegas they had to move those butts to a shabby facility on the road from Sanlúcar to Trebujena. There
is where I had the opportunity to sample them for the first time, on a visit with Álvaro Girón to an already old Gaspar in
June 2006. We were very positively impressed by their quality and consistency, especially in contrast with the lack of distinction--to put it mildly--of the context there and then. There were quite a few butts of the outstanding GF-25 and only a few
of GF-30, a very old and absolutely spectacular wine. It is precisely from the latter that this La Bota de Palo Cortado #51
Bota GF is sourced, a return to this source from our #41 Bota NO.
Only a few months later, early in 2007, Bodegas Pedro Romero purchased Gaspar Florido, and since then they have remained marketing GF-25 under the usual label “Jerez Viejísimo.” In Gaspar’s opinion – perhaps questionable but not lacking solid ground – such wines see how the distinctive features of amontillado, palo cortado and oloroso are blurred by their
very age. That is why he used to label it simply “Jerez”, which after all merely honors the sanluqueña tradition of referring
to the local palo cortado as “jerez cortado”.
Today these butts are stored at the Sacristía of Pedro Romero, back to the heart of the “Barrio” and actually very near their
original location. There is where we had the opportunity to revisit them and sample them exhaustively and, ahem, exhaustingly, in order to select our favorites for this edition of La Bota GF. Along with other editions of this series, The Boot Palo
Cortado 51 “Bota GF” provides the opportunity, increasingly rare, to possess and try to bottled history. There is already precious little wine “superviejo” that balances Jerez, Sanlucar and El Puerto, and one suspects that the chance to access jewels
like these will not be repeated often.
ACCOLADES
98 – #51 La Bota de Palo Cortado #51 – Wine Advocate
# 5 4 F I N O M AC H A R N U D O A LTO
S O U R CE Valdespino – Macharnudo Alto
AGING Average 10 years under flor
A LCO H O L 15%
L
S R P $50
PACKED
6 x 750 ml
R ELEA S E
Regular release, bottled June, 2014
a Bota de Fino 54 is the release for June 2014, and belongs to the same set of casks coming from the six previous editions
of La Bota de Fino (numbers 2, 7, 15, 18, 27 and 35). This time, it’s a selection of the bottom and the second criadera,
mean estimated age of ten years.
As wine Connoisseurs, it has been bottled almost ‘en Rama’, with only a slight filtering, in order to preserve its golden color
and intense character. It can be enjoyed without restrictions from the start, and will continue to give satisfaction for many
years if it is stored with a minimum of care.
Serve between 50 ° F, to enjoy its lighter and more refreshing side, and about 57 ° F, where it fully expresses its complexity
and rich aromatic range. On the table is an extremely versatile wine: Jamón Ibérico of course, but also stews, shepherd’s pie,
pulpo a feira, or grilled vegetables ...
ACCOLADES
94 – #54 La Bota de Fino Macharnudo – Wine Advocate
# 5 5 M A N Z A N I L L A N AVA Z O S
S O U R CE Sánchez Ayala
AGING Average 10 years under flor
A LCO H O L 15%
S R P $55
PACKED
6 x 750 ml
R ELEA S E
Regular release, bottled November, 2014
T
his is the seventh release from the same solera that has already produced editions number 4, 8, 16, 22, 32 and 42 of
“La Bota”. For its selection we have returned to our favorite butts of the oldest manzanilla solera hosted at Bodegas M.
Sánchez Ayala and on this occasion we have selected 19 of them. It was precisely the location of this house that inspired our
choice of the name that we gave our project, as our first wine, the unforgettable La Bota de Amontillado nº 1, was sourced
precisely from the cellaring facilities of Barrio de la Balsa, between the streets Banda Playa and Divina Pastora. This was a
zone gradually reclaimed from the Guadalquivir estuary and traditionally surrounded by – today almost gone – navazos.
La Bota de Manzanilla #55 has a really pungent aroma, the character of this particular winery, really high acetaldehyde, a
sub-product of the biological aging, for me a textbook, pungent Manzanilla. The palate is medium-bodied with very intense,
sharp flavors. This is ready to be enjoyed now, but it will develop a different personality in bottle. An unbeatable match on
the dinner table, it excels with dishes from the Spanish seafood tradition: mackerel & potatoes, tuna stew, and boiled shellfish;
international cuisine: toro sashimi, marinated herring, mussels; and especially with the spicy dishes of the Asian southeast.
It has been bottled after only the slightest filtration in order to preserve its genuine character and its deep golden color with
green hues as if straight from the butt.
It is advisable to handle this Manzanilla with just as much care as any other great white wine. It should be served at about
9/11ºC in fairly large stemware, never in the cliché copita..
ACCOLADES
93+ – #55 La Bota de Manzanilla – Wine Advocate
#56 PEDRO XIMÉNEZ VIEJÍSIMO BOTA NO
S O U R CE Bodegas Rey Fernando de Castilla
VA R IETIES Pedro Ximénez, fortified
AGING Average age of 70 years
A LCO H O L 15%
S R P $110
PACKED
6 x 375 ml
R ELEA S E
Limited release, bottled October, 2014
Rey Fernando de Castilla was founded in the 1960s by Fernando Andrada-Vanderwilde, a scion of an ancient Ibero-Dutch
aristocratic family with over 200 years in the wine trade. To make his enterprise immediately viable, Fernando began his
cellar with some old stocks of Sherry that he acquired from Pedro Domecq. Some of these founding butts survived the sale
of Rey Fernando de Castilla to Norwegian, Jan Pettersen in 1999, and are the source for Equipo–Navazos’ La Bota de Pedro
Ximénez Viejísimo Bota NO #56.
While Pedro Ximénez is more frequently associated with Montilla, it is grown in Jerez as well. Most of it is used to add sweetness to bottlings of Cream Sherry as well as taking the bracing edge off many Palo Cortados, Amontillados and Olorosos. It
is fairly uncommon to find a sweet PX from Jerez let alone one that is well over 70 years in age or a Bota NO for that matter.
With 400 g/L of residual sugar, #56 is not a shy or introverted wine, it boasts aromas of toffee, chocolate, raisins, dates, and
a milky hint with a dense palate, quite sweet, keeping the freshness and balance. It’s fragrant and open, and develops some
aromas of hazelnuts with time in the glass. This cask was bottled in its entirely – only 750 bottles.
ACCOLADES
95+ – #56 La Bota de Pedro Ximénez Viejísimo Bota NO – Wine Advocate
#57 FLORPOWER MMXII
VA R IETIES
Palomino Fino, unfortified
AGING
Aged under flor 8 months in butts then an additional 15 months under flor in tank
A LCO H O L 12.5%
SRP
F
$38
PACKED
6 x 750 ml
R ELEA S E
Regular release, bottled October, 2014
or years now Equipo Navazos has made a strong bid for the potential of wines aged under a veil of flor, at their natural
alcohol levels (i.e. unfortified). This spurred the release of our original Navazos-Niepoort series – the seventh vintage
of which will hit the market in 2015 – as well as a number of experiments researching Palomino Fino further aged in butts
and tanks. The evolution of these wines, sourced from different vineyards in the Sherry region, has been carefully observed
for the past several years.
La Bota de Florpower no. 57 MMXII is a continuation of this research effort: an unfortified white wine, exclusively from the
spectacular 2012 vintage (a date that still cannot be printed on the label due to bureaucratic impediments, hence our use of
MMXII on the capsule, cork, and lot number on the back label). Bottled at 12.5% alc/vol., the wine is 100% Palomino Fino
sourced from Sanlúcar vineyards (mainly from the Pago Miraflores) and fermented in stainless steel tanks. After fermentation – towards December 2012 – it was moved to 15 butts where it aged under flor for 8 months. By late July 2013 the wine
was transferred to a single stainless steel tank where it remained under the – now milder and subtler – effects of flor until its
bottling on October, 2014.
ACCOLADES
92+ – #57 La Bota de Vino Blanco Florpower MMXII – Wine Advocate
#58 AMONTIL L ADO NAVAZ OS
S O U R CE Hijos de Rainera Pérez Marín
VA R IETIES
Palomino Fino, fortified
AGING
Average age of 18 years
A LCO H O L 18.5%
SRP
$80
PACKED
6 x 750 ml
R ELEA S E
Periodic release
S
ince the 1980s and until very recently, the Amontillado soleras of Rainera P. Marín were made from very different soleras labeled as “Manzanilla Pasada”: from the third criadera of Amontillado “M. Pda.” all the way to the little shrine of
1/3 “M. Pda. Viejísima”, and including solera 1/10 “M. Pda. Vieja” (source of #31 and #61 Bota NO bottlings).
After its purchase by the Estévez Group, the greater part of these confusingly labeled stocks (corresponding to the solera
and criaderas of Amontillado “Manzanilla Pasada”) were strictly restructured. The finest and deepest butts were selected,
their contents refreshed with true (and unfortified) manzanilla pasada (this is a natural amontillado), in order to create an
amontillado solera that was slightly over 100-butt strong. We have selected a dozen of these butts which shine for their superior freshness as well as intense notes of aromatic herbs, baked sweet potato, and caramel. The resulting blend is a delicious
amontillado, extremely dry, long, serious, complex, but also perfectly drinkable.
The estimate average age of this wine is around 18 years. It is best enjoyed in a sufficiently large white wine glass towards
15ºC—so it should be served slightly below that to allow for aeration. An excellent aperitif on its own, it also works beautifully with some dishes: powerful crudités such as morcón or bull negre, spring haricots with black pudding, sautéed lamb
sweetbreads with garlic, fabada asturiana... Needless to say, it is an excellent match to a wide variety of cheeses, both hard
and soft.
#59 MANZANILLA PASADA CAPATAZ RIVAS
R
VA R IETIES
AGING
A LCO H O L 16%
SRP
$50
PACKED
6 x 750 ml
R ELEA S E
Limited release, bottled June, 2015
afael Rivas, capataz for several decades at La Guita cellars at Sanlúcar’s Calle Misericordia until his recent retirement,
started in 1986 this 15-butt solera of well-aged Manzanilla. The plan was to produce an old Manzanilla of exceptional
quality – should one be required to add some extra kick to the commercial releases of the house. But no such kick was ever
required, and so, in order to preserve its character and prevent its turning into an amontillado, capataz Rivas pampered
these 15 butts and ‘touching’ them only sparsely, sometimes as little as only every two years, with testimonial sacas of only
four or five arrobas (roughly 5x16=80 liters) and refilling them with wines sourced from the best solera of La Guita. The
result is a true Manzanilla Pasada like the fine examples of yore, but also extremely singular in style.
Another feature that contributes to this wine’s singularity and unmatched biological character (intense and steely notes of
salinity on the palate) is the way the butts are filled almost up to a tocadedos (within a finger reach from the top)—well above
the customary 5/6 in the Sherry region. This way, the yeast layer or “flor” (truly weakened now by the wine’s age and lack
of nutrients) in these butts is more reduced and can be maintained with those scarce refills. It still performs its function as
physical barrier against the wine’s oxidation, but in its diminished state it cannot be fully effective and so this Manzanilla
offers elegant oxidation notes and a budding rise in its alcohol level, at about 16%.
The real average age of La Bota de Manzanilla Pasada #59 must be around 15 years. It is a complex and powerful wine, of
balanced freshness and elegant oxidation notes that make it truly unique. Stunningly versatile on the dinner table, it matches
a wide variety of dishes, from the most easygoing (rich fish dishes, fish-based rice recipes, charcuterie) to the most difficult
(scrambled eggs with mushrooms or runny sheep cheeses). Best served around 12º C, in moderately large stemware.
#60 MANZANILLA PASADA BOTA PUNTA
M
VA R IETIES
AGING
A LCO H O L 16%
SRP
$100
PACKED
6 x 500 ml
R ELEA S E
Limited release, bottled August, 2015
anzanilla Pasada Bota Punta #60 was bottled from the last barrel of a 15 barrel solera of Manzanilla Pasada: a
simply magnificent old Manzanilla, of rarely seen finesse and complexity. This vessel has always followed a different
extractions-and-refreshing regime under the alert eye of its true creator: Rafael Rivas, capataz of La Guita, who has been
in charge of the Bodega Misericordia in Sanlúcar de Barrameda since the owners of the company Hijos de Rainera Pérez
Marín bought the facilities in 1986. This small solera of 15 barrels is also the source of Manzanilla Pasada Capataz Rivas
#59 as well as many previous bottlings: #10, #20 Bota Punta, #30 Capataz Rivas, #39 Bota NO, #40 Bota Punta, #41 Bota
NO and #50 Bota Punta.
This barrel was not refreshed with wine from the first criadera, but with more Manzanilla Pasada from other butts from
the same row in the solera, which in turn were refreshed with criadera wine. The overwhelming combination of power and
finesse that this butt already exhibited in January 2008, when it was first bottled, has become, seven years later, a real verbal
challenge for even the most skilled poet-taster, all the happier for being defeated at the describing game by this rarest of
Manzanillas.
This edition shares the essential characteristics of La Bota de Manzanilla Pasada Capataz Rivas 59, only with greater intensity and purity, no matter how impossible the thought may appear to lovers of number 59. This is truly a wine to dream of,
understandably unbelievable unless one has the opportunity to enjoy it in person.
#61 AMONTILLADO BOTA NO
VA R IETIES
AGING
A LCO H O L 20%
SRP
I
$100
PACKED
6 x 500 ml
R ELEA S E
Limited release, bottled June, 2015
n the wine cellars owned by La Guita on the road to Jerez outside Sanlúcar de Barrameda there are several Amontillado
soleras identified by the number of butts that exist of each one, and by the labels “Manzanilla Pasada,” “Manzanilla
Pasada Vieja” or “Manzanilla Pasada Viejísima”. All those soleras have survived practically untouched since La Guita
rearranged its stocks in 1980 and moved most to the cellars on the road to Jerez. Among them, the Solera 1/10 of “Manzanilla Pasada Vieja” which actually is an exceptional Amontillado, very old and elegant, that shows the typical character
of Sanlúcar.
It is precisely from that solera that we have sourced the present release: La Bota de Amontillado 61 “Bota NO”. It is the
second time we come to it, since in 2011 there was a release with the same name and source numbered as La Bota no. 31.
Due to its evident age and depth it can be sipped as a midmorning drop on quiet leisurely days, or after a meal. It also displays a harmonious palate that makes it especially appropriate for intense dishes such as a hearty stew, arròs de muntanya,
or lobster bisque, and also of delicate pieces of sushi with a dash of wasabi. Come to think of it, at a lower than usual temperature, this amontillado can be sipped successfully side by side to a refreshing ajoblanco or gazpacho.
It should be served in sufficiently generous stemware at around 13-14ºC, to account for the expected temperature rise once
it is in the glass.
2 0 1 2 N AVA Z O S N I E P O O R T
VA R IETIES Palomino Fino, unfortified
AGING Aged under flor 8 months in butts then an additional two years under flor in tank
A LCO H O L 13%
S R P $31
PACKED
6 x 750 ml
R ELEA S E
Regular release
E
verything suggests that the origin of Andalusian biological aging should be dated back to the second half of the eighteenth century, halfway between Sanlúcar (providing the wines) and Cádiz (providing the market and commercial channels in the form of the tabancos de montañeses where the beneficial effects of the flor were first appreciated).
Everything likewise indicates that in those days the practice of fortification was infrequent in the white wines destined to
local consumption. We gather that from Agustín Fernández’s 1801 article on “Vineyard and winemaking practices in San
Lucar de Barrameda”, published in issue 213 of that admirable source of information, the Semanario de Agricultura y Artes
dirigido a los Párrocos. After stating that the best grapes were the “listanes” (Palomino Fino) and the best vineyards those of
“tierras blancas” (albariza soils) he continued as follows: “if the grapes are of top quality, the whites need nothing more; it is true that
some add a quarter of refined spirit to stabilize them, but they risk the wines becoming coarse as a result of this” (p 59)
If to this we add the fact that the local classification of vineyards according to quality criteria was well settled at the turn of
the 18th century, we can infer that the parameters that a top-quality wine of the age had to meet were the following: a) the
Palomino Fino variety, b) sourced from the best vineyards, c) fermented in butt, d) using indigenous yeasts, e) aged under the
layer of flor that was formed immediately after the fermentation yeasts finished their job, f) with no added alcohol. This wine,
before the generalization of the term “vino de manzanilla” (for which Cádiz was responsible), was plainly known locally as
“vino blanco” (‘white wine’).
It is no more and no less than that, a white wine, that we offer now as the fifth vintage of Navazos-Niepoort 2012, produced by Equipo Navazos following exactly the same rigorous quality criteria employed by the best winemakers of the Bajo
Guadalquivir some 200 years ago: Palomino Fino musts sourced from a historic albariza vineyard, fermented in butt with
indigenous yeasts that impregnate the vines and the fermentation vessels themselves, aged for more than six months under a
layer of flor thanks to the action of more indigenous yeasts that take control immediately after fermentation, and of course
with not a single drop of added alcohol.
ACCOLADES
93 – 2012 Navazos Niepoort Vino Blanco – Wine Advocate
C O L E T- N AVA Z O S E X T R A B R U T
S O U R CE Colet Vins – D.O. Penedes
VA R IETIES Xarel-lo-based
AGING 30 months in bottle, secondary fermentation with flor, dosage of Manzanilla & Amontillado (2009), Palo Cortado & Amontillado (2010) or Palo Cortado (2011)
A LCO H O L 12.5%
S R P $45
PACKED
6 x 750 ml
R ELEA S E
Regular release
T
he first contacts between Sergi Colet and the members of Equipo Navazos took place in 2003, and already in 2005
a collaboration was seriously studied with the purpose of making sparkling wines in the Sherry District. The starting
point was our certainty about some structural similarities between Champagne and biologically-aged Sherries: vineyards
grown on white chalky soils, the relatively neutral character of the base wines, the importance of a second yeast intervention
in the production process, etc. There was also the idea of playing with dosage wines in order to produce different sparkling
wines, inspired by the different types of Sherries. We immediately concluded that this was a fascinating and yet-unexplored
territory, and in May 2007 we started fieldwork and tests. The original idea was—and still is—a joint effort where the added know-how and experience of both parts would enable the production of quality sparkling Palomino-based wines in the
Sherry District where the character would come, not as a result of fruit and primary aromas, but from the chalky minerality
and the action of flor yeasts, as well as gentle oxidation notes. This part of the project (Colet-Navazos) is still in progress,
although commercial releases are not to be expected yet.
In the meantime, Colet and Equipo Navazos have experimented with other parameters, as in the practice of combining
small amounts of flor yeasts and/or lees for the second fermentation of Penedés sparkling wines. And also experimental
disgorgement tests, trying different base wine profiles and dosage combinations with traditional Andalusian types (be they
from Jerez, Montilla, or Sanlúcar): dollops of Fino, Manzanilla, Amontillado, Palo Cortado, Oloroso, sweet PX, Cream…
The initial approach was to test how far we could go with the Andalusian Sparkling project, but with time Colet-Navazos
realized that some of these Catalan sparklers of southern spirit (a crossbreed described as “saleroso mestizaje”, in the words
of Josep Roca) were truly serious and elegant wines, so we have decided to release some of them to the market.
ACCOLADES
90 – 2009 Colet Navazos Extra Brut – Wine Advocate
COLET-NAVAZOS RESERVA EXTRA BRUT
S O U R CE Colet Vins – D.O. Penedes
VA R IETIES Chardonnay
AGING 42 months in bottle, secondary fermentation with flor, dosage of Manzanilla Pasada
A LCO H O L 12.5%
S R P $50
PACKED
6 x 750 ml
R ELEA S E
Regular release
T
he first contacts between Sergi Colet and the members of Equipo Navazos took place in 2003, and already in 2005
a collaboration was seriously studied with the purpose of making sparkling wines in the Sherry District. The starting
point was our certainty about some structural similarities between Champagne and biologically-aged Sherries: vineyards
grown on white chalky soils, the relatively neutral character of the base wines, the importance of a second yeast intervention
in the production process, etc. There was also the idea of playing with dosage wines in order to produce different sparkling
wines, inspired by the different types of Sherries. We immediately concluded that this was a fascinating and yet-unexplored
territory, and in May 2007 we started fieldwork and tests. The original idea was—and still is—a joint effort where the added know-how and experience of both parts would enable the production of quality sparkling Palomino-based wines in the
Sherry District where the character would come, not as a result of fruit and primary aromas, but from the chalky minerality
and the action of flor yeasts, as well as gentle oxidation notes. This part of the project (Colet-Navazos) is still in progress,
although commercial releases are not to be expected yet.
In the meantime, Colet and Equipo Navazos have experimented with other parameters, as in the practice of combining
small amounts of flor yeasts and/or lees for the second fermentation of Penedés sparkling wines. And also experimental
disgorgement tests, trying different base wine profiles and dosage combinations with traditional Andalusian types (be they
from Jerez, Montilla, or Sanlúcar): dollops of Fino, Manzanilla, Amontillado, Palo Cortado, Oloroso, sweet PX, Cream…
The initial approach was to test how far we could go with the Andalusian Sparkling project, but with time Colet-Navazos
realized that some of these Catalan sparklers of southern spirit (a crossbreed described as “saleroso mestizaje”, in the words
of Josep Roca) were truly serious and elegant wines, so we have decided to release some of them to the market.
ACCOLADES
92 – 2008 Colet Navazos Reserva Extra Brut – Wine Advocate
2 0 1 3 CA S A D E L I N CA P X
S O U R CE Pérez Barquero, Montilla – Casa del Inca
VA R IETIES Pedro Ximénez, asoleo and fortified
AGING 18 months in conos (cone-shaped tinajas)
A LCO H O L
15%
S R P $60
PACKED
6 x 750 ml
R ELEA S E
Regular release
T
he very thin skin of the Pedro Ximénez variety favors the fast dehydration of the berries during the asoleo (sundrying)
process, which makes it ideal for the production of raisiny sweet wines. The Montilla-Moriles region (especially in
Montalbán, Montemayor, and Puente Genil) produces today, virtually all the production of sweet PX musts that will later be
aged in the different Andalusian winemaking areas.
Casa del Inca, in Montilla, is the former residence of the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, where he wrote most of his literary
works. Its present functions—after restoration—are now related to the city’s winemaking tradition.
Late-harvested grapes, after several full turns of exposure to the late summer sun, and careful extraction at different pressure
levels by means of powerful hydraulic presses, are the key to the musts’ original quality. Another key element is the subsequent fortification with top-quality wine-based spirits. Third and last, as far as vintage PXs not undergoing barrel aging, is
time: one and a half years resting in tinajas or conos, the traditional cone-shaped vessels used in Montilla-Moriles for centuries now. In close collaboration with Pérez Barquero, the expert members of Equipo Navazos have carefully measured these
three parameters for Coalla Gourmet in order to offer the market this Casa del Inca 2013: a fresh and delicate vintage PX
of surprising complexity and structure in spite of its copper-toned youth. In previous years, and under identical premises,
other vintages have been released (2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010 & 2011).
This wine, selected by Equipo Navazos, is part of a private venture with Coalla Gourmet, so it is a parallel project of the
‘La Bota de’ releases.

equipo navazos - European Cellars

Transcription

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