NV Equipo Navazos La Bota de Fino No. 45

The NV La Bota de Fino 45 is from Montilla-Moriles, produced with Pedro Ximenez grapes aged under flor for a very long time (maybe close to 15 years) on its way to becoming an Amontillado (it would be called a Fino Amontillado if such a category existed), sourced from the Perez Barquero winery. It displays a deep golden color and a nose of yeast, chalk and bread dough, showing its age, with a hint of caramel and roasted nuts. In the palate is has a slight rusticity, supple and saline, very long, ending dry. It reminds me of some previous Manzanillas Pasadas from them. A superb, unique wine. Drink 2013-2018. Equipo Navazos is a small negociant business started in 2006 by Jesus Barquin, a criminology professor at Granada University, expert in and passionate about the wines of Andalucia, and Eduardo Ojeda, technical director of Grupo Estevez (Marques de Real Tesoro, La Guita Valdespino?). They source rare lots of high quality Sherries and bottle them unfined, unfiltered, (more or less) as they are in the bota. The whole thing started as a non-business adventure, with the two of them and historian Alvaro Giron unearthing, purchasing and bottling some superb, unique botas from different bodegas for a private group of aficionados. Word about these private bottlings started spreading through the Spanish Internet wine forums, interest and demand increased, so they decided to bottle a little bit more and sell small quantities to three distributors in Spain. The same happened with small importers here and there, UK, US, Singapore, Australia? and now they are probably the hottest name in Sherry for hardcore fans! As with most projects run by enthusiasts, things tend to get complicated, joint-ventures with other passionate producers (Dirk Niepoort from Douro/Porto, Sergi Colet who makes sparkling wines in Penedes), special wines that do not follow the normal release patterns, non-fortified biological wines, etc. Being so small, they have done so much to bring Sherry back to the attention of the public, both in Spain and the rest of the world. After almost 20 years involved in wine in Spain, I’m friendly with most producers in most regions, but I have to disclose that I’m probably closer to Jesus Barquin, who’s also been a colleague of mine at elmundovino.com, and co-authored, together with Victor de la Serna and myself a book on Rioja and Northwest Spain. Of course, I have no commercial relationship or interest in Equipo Navazos other than the fact that I´ve purchased their wines for my own cellar from the very beginning. Imported by Eric Solomon Selection, European Cellars, Charlotte, NC; tel. (704) 358-1565

The name means 'a fino on its way to becoming an amontillado' – ideally they would have liked to classify it as both fino and amontillado because it is more of a continuum than two discrete categories. From Pérez Barquero, Montilla. Due to be bottled in June 2013. Average age of wines 15 years. Very smoky. Mid gold. Some walnut but has great salty freshness and amazing tanginess. There's lapsang and all sorts of nutty aromas. Intense and so long. Swings between salty fino (when colder) and amontillado (as it warms up). Really savoury and roasted notes on the finish. Salty caramel. Fabulous. (JH)