OT: Sherry & The Mystery of Palo Cortado

Jerez & el misterio del palo cortado
Directed by José Luis López Linares
Synopsis: What we taste in a glass of Sherry is not just the fruit and its ferment but also the peculiar flavour of a place to which the Gods have been invited and where they have found a home. Jerez, where wine has been made for the last 3.000 years, is a place of stories, legendary tales, and, most of all, mysteries. (Source: You Tube)

Palo Cortado

Tasting Notes: A wine of great complexity which combines the delicate bouquet of an amontillado with the body and palate of an oloroso.
Chestnut to mahogany in colour with a complex bouquet which harmonises the characteristic notes of amontillados and olorosos, citric notes reminiscent of bitter orange and lactic notes suggestive of fermented butter. It has a deep, rounded, ample palate with smooth, delicate aromatic notes appearing in the aftertaste, leading to delicious lingering finish.

Production and Ageing: The production of Palo Cortado is the clearest example of how the bodegueros in the Jerez Region need to correctly identify the true vocation of each type of wine and act accordingly. These are wines produced from very fine must, initially fortified to 15% by volume and their casks are marked with a “palo” or slash. Once completed the sobretabla stage, if the tasters note the existence of certain very specific characteristics in some of the casks in which the flor has been maintained, they will mark it as a potential palo cortado by drawing a horizontal line across the original slash mark. The wine is then again fortified to above 17% by volume, thus redirecting the process of oxidative ageing. Only long years spent in the soleras will determine if the characteristics observed in the young wine have been confirmed by time and indeed produce a true palo cortado. (Source: www.sherry.org)

Here you have a highly recommended and still affordable Palo Cortado. More information at www.lustau.es/en/