Sherryweek 2020 : The special bottles

In my Gonzalez Byass delivery for this years edition of #sherryweek there were also three bottles outside of the normal range. I’m not going to use these for cocktails (which is of course perfectly possible). I want to enjoy them just as they are as a roundup of this fantastic week. 

We received two exceptional Fino sherry’s and an Amontillado VORS. 

Tio Pepe Fino
En Rama Edition 2019

The ‘En Rama’ is a special release which only comes to the market once a year. It’s an almost unfiltered edition (there is a very slight filtering to remove e.g. small chips from the cask), almost straight from the Solera casks.

In this edition 62 casks were handpicked for their exceptional bouquet. A nose of hay, dusty attics, wet grass, dough and yeasty apples. In the mouth lemon, salted almonds and roasted nuts. Very recognizable salty aftertaste. 

If your bar needs a fino sherry for a super-premium range of cocktails, look at this bottle. 

Fino Una Palma

The Palmas range of sherries is a very limited release of aged wines. They are bottled unfiltered and unclarified. There are 4 bottlings: Una, dos, tres or cuatro palmas. (Una palma is the youngest of these wines, it goes up in age)

The wine for this Una Palma edition was selected from rare casks which retained a delicate covering of flor despite spending 6 years of biological aging. Just three exceptional casks are selected from a total stock of over 20.000 casks of Fino sherry. Bottled unfiltered and unclarified this wine is dominated by the aroma of the yeasty flor, accompanied by the nutty character of the Palomino and notes of bread, honey and green apples. Powerful and extremely dry on the mouth. Pear and quinces with a salty and slightly bitter finish.

Exclusive sherry wine which can be served as an aperitif, but also enjoyed with fish, rice or pasta. It works extremely well with Asian cuisine. 

Del Duque Amontillado VORS

For old sherry wines there are two special age indications : VOS and VORS

VOS: certifies that the wine has an average age of more than 20 years. The word VOS comes from the Latin “Vinum Optimum Signatum” which means “Very old Sherry”.

VORS: certifies that the wine has a mean age over 30 years. The word VORS comes from “Very Old Rare Sherry” 

In 1835 Manuel Maria Gonzalez bought 16 barrels from the Duke of Medinaceli. These barrels are the base of the Del Duque Solera system, aging this very old amontillado. 

Del Duque is one of the VORS bottlings of Gonzalez Byass. This amontillado is produced exactly like the Viña AB amontillado from the normal range, minimum 4 years in the Tio Pepe Solera, followed by 6 years in a young Amontillado Solera. But after that it’s transferred again to the Del Duque Solera for another TWENTY years !!! This very long ageing results in a sherry with a dark golden colour. On the nose aromas of dried fruits and walnuts. On the palate very dry but also powerful. Very nice aftertaste. 

This delicate sherry should be enjoyed in a small white wine glass to really get the full bouquet of aromas. It can be paired with seafood, rice and small game. Or serve it as a high quality apero with some olives. 

Sherryweek 2020 was (again!) a great experience with these very flavorful sherry range of Gonzalez Byass, some great cocktail experiments and delicious foodpairings. This series was made possible with the help of Gonzalez Byass and distributor Cinoco. Thank you.

Disclaimer : All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.