Bodegas 501 El Puerto de Santa Maria Zurbaran Cream

Bodegas 501 was founded in 1783 in El Puerto de Santa Maria. Their unusual and charming cream sherry — Zurbaran — does not date back that far, but no one seems to know how old it is! The solera had not been tapped for 20 years (and maybe more) before this wine was bottled and the results are fascinating. Aromas are rich and botanical, with halvah, ginseng, cocoa powder, fennel seed, pencil shavings, peanut skins, and cracker jacks. The sweet palate is not cloying like some cream sherries, but clear and bright: pretty fresh figs and chewy raisins, salty roasted peanuts, gentian root, milk chocolate, and more of those beguiling halvah and ginseng notes. This gets a rare rating of "Yummy!" and is highly recommended as a fresh alternative to port for cheese plates, desserts, or simply for drinking in repose. Ariana Rolich

Bodegas Alonso NV San Lucar de Barrameda Amontillado 1/15 (Gaspar Florido)

Bodegas Alonso NV San Lucar de Barrameda Manzanilla Velo Flor

Bodegas Alonso NV San Lucar de Barrameda Oloroso 1/14 (Pedro Romero)

Bodegas Alonso NV San Lucar de Barrameda Palo Cortado 1/8 (Fernando Men

Callejuela NV San Lucar de Barrameda Manzanilla en Rama

Callejuela NV San Lucar de Barrameda Manzanilla Pasada

Equipo Navazos 2015 Montilla-Moriles Casa del Inca Pedro Ximénez 750ml

From Equipo Navazos: 'The 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) concentrates 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 production. Its present functions—after restoration—are related to the city’s winemaking tradition. Late-harvested grapes, 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 ageing are concerned is time: one and a half years resting in tinajas or conos, the traditional cone-shaped vessels used in Montilla-Moriles for centuries now.'

Equipo Navazos NV Jerez La Bota de Oloroso #78 "Viejisimo" 375 ml

Equipo Navazos NV Jerez La Bota de Oloroso #79 Cream 375 ml

Equipo Navazos NV Jerez La Bota de Palo Cortado #48 Bota Punta 375ml

From Equipo Navazos: 'Gaspar 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 we had the opportunity to sample them for the first time, on a visit with Álvaro Girón to 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 nº 48 “Bota Punta” is sourced. In fact it comes from a sister cask of the one from which we extracted our La Bota de Palo Cortado nº 41 “Bota NO” ten months before. 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”. It is indeed a very old palo cortado, and so we have labeled it as such.'

Equipo Navazos NV San Lucar de Barrameda La Bota de Palo Cortado #41 375 ml

From Equipo Navazos: 'Gaspar 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 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 nº 41 "Bota NO" is sourced.  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". It is indeed a very old palo cortado and so we have labeled it as such. 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": it is a truly extraordinary wine for its unlikely balance between sheer authenticity, concentration, and finesse; genuinely amazing, with so much character and personality.'

Gonzalez Byass NV (2016 bottling) Jerez Cuatro Palmas Amontillado 500 ml

Gonzalez Byass NV (2016 bottling) Jerez Tres Palmas Fino 500 ml

Gonzalez Byass NV (2016 bottling) Jerez Una Palma Fino 500 ml

Gonzalez Byass NV Jerez Fino Tio Pepe En Rama (btld 2017)

This is the 2017 release of what is perennially one of my favorite sherries, Gonzales Byass's Tio Pepe En Rama. "En Rama" translates to "from the cask", and this is one of the purest expressions of fino sherry, bottled without fining or filtration in the springtime, when the influence of flor (the veil of yeast that protects the wine from oxidization and imparts a very particular flavor) is at its strongest.The 2017 displays beautiful aromas of green apple, lemon peel, white blossom, almonds, that yeasty flor character, a touch of smoke and a briney, olive note. The palate is vibrant and lovely, marrying all the complexity of the nose with a great minerality and salinity. Such a complex and food-friendly wine! One of my favorite pairings with fino sherry is grilled fish, but this would also be lovely with seared scallops, calamari, or monkfish liver. Oskar Kostecki

Gonzalez Byass Muy Seco NV Tio Pepe Jerez Fino (1960s/70s)

Hidalgo NV Jerez Oloroso Gobernador

Emilio Hidalgo makes some of the most elegant and refined sherries in Jerez today. I asked him how he achieved such elegance in his wines and he replied that they are fanatical about cleanliness of their barrels and their bodega has a very unique position for the nurturing of the flor. Although there is no flor here, it is not missed. There are delicate aromas of nuts, Assam tea, smoke, and salted caramels. The palate is dry and finely textured finishing amazingly long and pure. Serve before dinner as an apéritif, during dinner with poultry dishes or after dinner as a digestive. This will be on my Thanksgiving table. cb

Osborne NV Jerez Dark Mahogany Oloroso Solera BC 200 750ml

Valdespino NV Jerez Amontillado Tio Diego

Aromas of buttery salted caramel with freshly-snipped chives and dill over orange blossoms and rosewater; burnt orange zest and dry bitter earth coat the palate with dark crunchy herbs, dill seed, licorice root, espresso, and a long, dry, woodsy finish. 100% Palomino from minimum 25-year-old vines on the pure Albariza (chalk) soil of Macharnuda Alta, with an average of more than 14 years of combined biological and oxidative aging. A serious sherry at a great price. -AR

Valdespino NV San Lucar de Barrameda Manzanilla Deliciosa 375 ml