Wild asparagus with scrambled eggs & Eléctrico (fino) ...
Wild asparagus with scrambled eggs & Eléctrico (fino) ...
Ver mensaje de Paco HigónThat’s a really outstanding pairing.... I’ve tried it today and I’m still licking my own lips ;-)
Electrico (fino del lagar) is a somewhat different fino from D.O. Montilla-Moriles with character and personality. A nice product of Bodegas Toro Albalá....
https://www.verema.com/en/tastingnotes/wine.asp?wine=9079
I’ve hand picked the wild asparagus by myself in this incredibly hot Spring day (30º C)......
Cheers!!!
Re: Wild asparagus with scrambled eggs & Eléctrico (fino) ...
Ver mensaje de Paco HigónMore character in nose than those finos coming from Jerez... Jerezanos would say that their finos are more elegant - more ";clean"; in nose and better delineated. I need time and wine to compare.
I’ll add a recent experience to trigger -hopefully- some discussion. In the last two weeks I opened two bottles of Aurora en Rama (unfiltered). The first one was a good manzanilla, somewhat timid in nose (especially when tasted chilled), but with a long aftertaste. The second one was superb: explosive nose full of flor character, impressive concentration, unending aftertaste showing intense ";flor"; (with a characteristic elegant bitterness), and slight hints of amontillado. A 96/7 points.
Just to say that bottle variation matters...
Bottle Variation
Ver mensaje de Álvaro GirónThere is no question that bottle variation is a problem with some wines, but I would not expect it in a fortified wine of the type you had.
In the US there has been some controversy about bottle variation in connection with Spanish wine in particular. There are at least two parts to the story.
The first, and more controversial, part involves highly rated QPR (quality-price ratio) wines. There have been several incidents of $10-12 wines getting a Parker score of 90+, but when people rush out to buy it they are disappointed and insist that they are not buying the same wine that Parker tasted. The cause may be ";special samples"; or may be a result of wine cooperative production methods that create inconsistency even within a single vintage.
The second part of the Spanish wine bottle variation story is that there have been occasions when Spanish wine imports have been singled out as having a much higher incidence of shipping-related heat damage. Steven Tanzer complained about this recently.
Re: Wild asparagus with scrambled eggs & Eléctrico (fino) ...
Ver mensaje de Álvaro GirónI can only add a thing… everybody at home preferred “Alvear Fino en rama” but I enjoyed its “nice rusticity” ;-)
Have you seen my linguistic question? Can you help me?
Cheers
Re: Bottle Variation
Ver mensaje de WaltZalenskiWalt, bottle variation in manzanillas/finos occurs even though the solera system was primarily designed to produce uniformity. However, this variation is completely natural. Of course the solera system prevents vintage variation, but it can not stop ";flor"; fluctuations. As you already know the yeasts’ layer called ";velo de flor"; -responsible of most of the chemical reactions giving finos and manzanillas their characteristic profile- disappears in Jerez during some weeks during winter and summer. Even in the best bodegas of Sanlucar this ";velo de flor"; gets extremely thin under tough climatic conditions. That produces some minor -but noticeable- variations in manzanillas and finos. A manzanilla bottled in winter is slightly different to a manzanilla released in the last weeks of the spring. There is also some variation from year to year. Those wines released in the humid winter of 2004 were somewhat different from those bottled in the unusually cold winter of 2005. Actually, part of Barbadillo’s Manzanilla en Rama success among good aficionados is based on the fact that they release a different “saca” every season. It is important to remember that this sort of “bottle variation” has nothing to do with premature oxidation due to bad storage. The same applies to changes caused by poor or fraudulent management of the soleras.
On the other hand, unfiltered manzanillas and finos are more prone to changes than those wines which passed through a process of filtering and cold stabilization. That could explain some bottle variation even when an “en rama” manzanilla or fino is properly kept. That’s the price to pay when buying a product that it is still “alive”.
Finally, it is good to remember that the aforementioned Aurora’s bottle variation stretched from excellent to superb. Nothing to do with defective wines or fraud.
Re: Bottle Variation
Ver mensaje de Álvaro GirónAlvaro,
Thanks for all the useful information about variation in manzanillas and finos. Most informative.
I should clarify that the comments I made about the ";Spanish Wine Bottle Variation Controversies"; that have arizen here from time to time have involved tintos, not sherry. Unfortunately, we don’t get enough sherry here to notice any bottle variation ...