Saca of March 2011
D.O. Jerez-Xérès-Sherry
21% alc.
Limited edition of 900 (37,5cl) bottles
Bodega: Rey Fernando de Castilla, Jerez de la Frontera
Led by Jan Pettersen, Fernando de Castilla is a Sherry house that illustrates like few others the rebirth of traditional Andalusian wines in the final years of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first. In its cellars located in the barrio de Santiago we can still find an admirable oloroso solera that conveys all the authenticity of ancient olorosos from Jerez. While the solera consists in some twenty butts, the best among them by far is a superb “bota punta” located towards the left end of the row.
It is a common occurrence in the traditional Andalusian cellars that the butt located at the end of a row (thus called “bota punta” or “bota de punta”) eventually acquires a singular character versus the rest of its mates in the same solera. Sometimes, especially in the case of finos and manzanillas, this is due to the extra action it sees: easier access to it translates into more frequent incursions of the venencia for sampling and tasting purposes. Or maybe its location within the cellaring facilities, with presumably better ventilation and sharper temperature and humidity fluctuations, confers this butt a special character.
Other times it is the result of a deliberate decision on the part of the capataz or the winemaker. Indeed, it is traditional in certain houses to refresh this butt not with wine from the first criadera but rather with wines sourced from other butts in the same solera. As a result this bota punta develops a more intense and concentrated character, some of which in turn is periodically blended back into each saca in the proportion needed to preserve the house style.
Whichever the case, it cannot be merely a coincidence that within this exceptional old oloroso solera of Bodegas Rey Fernando de Castilla it is precisely the bota punta the one that excels by its rare combination of sensuousness and depth.
La Bota de Oloroso 28 “BOTA PUNTA” is best served at 16ºC, in moderately large and wide-mouthed stemware to help it extract all its elegant and complex aromatics. We most emphatically discourage the use of picturesque copitas and tasting glasses of ridiculous sizes that would prevent the fair appreciation of this Sherry treasure in all its glorious complexity.