NV La Bota Palo Cortado No 41

The NV La Bota de Palo Cortado Viejisimo Bota No 41 is a very special wine. Bota NO is the name given to specific casks that are usually reserved for the owners of the wineries and are kept under lock and key so nobody can take any wine from them. This Palo Cortado is 22% alcohol, which denotes old age and concentration. It is sourced from the Pedro Romero winery in Sanlucar. It has a very spicy and singular nose, very complex, expressive, with the nuances of a very old wine, walnuts, leather, cedar wood, incense, with extreme concentration with finesse. The palate reveals a pungent, incisive wine, sharp, saline, smoky, with good acidity and a finish that lasts for minutes. An exceptional, extreme, brutal (but delicate) wine. Drink 2013-2025. 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