Bodegas Poniente Oloroso Sherry
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James
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Robert
Parker
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Winemaker Notes
Pair with Parillada, NY strip steak, paella de Setas and Morcilla (mushrooms and sausage) or duck ragu over pappardelle. The bottle can remain open for one year, although the longer it remains open, the wine may present with a slight haziness which will not affect its taste or texture. If cellaring for a long time in bottle, decanting is recommended before serving.
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Wine & Spirits
A light, tawny colored Sherry, this smells distinctly Oloroso, its scents of walnut skin and toffee offset by bright notes of lemon zest and crystallized ginger. The bodega is named for one of the winds that crosses Jerez and encourages the development of flor—the yeast veil that forms on the surface of Sherry as it ages in barrel. Poniente blends its Sherries from 18th- and 19th-century soleras purchased by its founders, Patrick Mata and Alberto Orte, who are also the founders of Olé & Obrigado Imports. They refresh the soleras every year with wine made from three organically farmed estate vineyards in Pago Añina. The wines have a median age of 30 years, which makes this wine technically classified as a VORS—and it shows. The wine is gracefully aged and still fresh. It drinks like a red wine with vinous tannins and a mineral acidity. Sip and savour this bottle—production is limited to 50 cases, but just a little bit will take you through a meal of pheasant and mushrooms.
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Wine Enthusiast
Aromas of cherry pipe tobacco, toffee, walnut and orange zest set the stage for flavors of apple, toasted nuts, vanilla and a touch of curry. This wine has a full body and rich texture that coat the palate, with an orange zest finish. Olé & Obrigado.
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James Suckling
Walnut, caramel and toffee with some dried papaya and persimmon. A rich and intense Oloroso with a full but sleek mouth-feel. Concentrated, with some salted almonds in the lengthy finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The NV Oloroso VORS was first bottled in 2018 (Saca 1/2018) and comes from a solera that has five criaderas and averages over 30 years of age. The fifth criadera is now replenished with the wine from their young vineyards in Pago Añina. Their new wines are produced in a very traditional way: in an open lagar, foot-trodden and fermented in botas with natural yeasts, and in this case, fortified to 17% eight months after the harvest. This was also dark, with some mahogany and green tints found in older wines, a little spirity and volatile and with a touch of rusticity.
Bodegas Poniente rare sherries are named after the cool humid Atlantic westerly Poniente winds. Winemaker Alberto Orte embraces his family’s rich tradition of solera system wines from Montilla-Moriles to create this unparalleled project from Jerez.
Bodegas Poniente stands out among its peers producing complex sherries from treasured soleras from the 18th and 19th centuries artfully blended with organically farmed wines of San Cristóbal, San José y El Aljibe. These estate vineyards are located in Pago Añina, one of only three pago sites designated as Jeréz Superior. Poniente is one of the few bodegas that produces and ages the wine surrounded by the vineyards giving it an authentic sense of place. After blending the wines rest at the historical estate of El Aljibe. Aljibe translates to “well” as the landmark property used to provide water for the surrounding area.
Sherry is a fortified wine that comes in many styles from dry to sweet. True Sherry can only be made in Andalucía, Spain where the soil and unique seasonal changes give a particular character to its wines. The process of production—not really the grape—determine the type, though certain types are reserved for certain grapes. Palomino is responsible for most dry styles; Pedro Ximénez and Muscat of Alexandria are used for blending or for sweet styles.
Known more formally as Jerez de la Frontera, Jerez is a city in Andalucía in southwest Spain and the center of the Jerez region and sherry production. Sherry is a mere English corruption of the term Jerez, while in French, Jerez is written, Xérès. Manzanilla is the freshest style of sherry, naturally derived from the seaside town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda.