NV Fino Viña Corrales Pago Balbaína (2021 Bottling)

The NV Fino Viña Corrales Pago Balbaína was bottled in 2021, clearly shown on the label and on the cork. It has a round, lush and buttery texture, a full-bodied palate and very pungent flavors. What surprised me from this bottling is the freshness and elegance that makes the wine feel lighter and easier to drink. This feels one step above the first bottling I tasted last year. It has incredible aromatics that are super complex, with notes of diesel, potpourri, wet chalk, esparto grass and yeasts. This is simply superb and even difficult because it's sooooo easy to drink. In 2020, they did two bottlings, or sacas, in the spring and autumn, which is quite unusual because the idea is to do only one bottling per year. In 2021, they bottled a little bit later, trying to soften the character of the "beticus" yeasts. They filled some 7,500 bottles in May 2021. This was bottled completely "en rama," unfiltered and unfined. Bodegas San Francisco Javier is the joint venture in Jerez from Peter "Pingus" Sisseck and Carlos "Hacienda Monasterio" del Río. I tasted the 2021 bottling of their Fino, which was even better, fresher and more elegant than the already surprising 2020. I published this note as part of the portfolio of his different wines, and I include it here for context and completeness.