Winemaker Notes
This rare Palo Cortado is named after the Poniente winds, cool and humid Atlantic western winds. Following the arc of history, winemaker Alberto Orte embraces his family’s rich tradition of solera system wines from Montilla-Moriles to create this unparalleled project from El Aljibe.
The winery recommens serving in a white wine glass, starting around 50F with optimal consumption reaching 57F. 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 recommend before serving.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The nose of the NV Palo Cortado VORS is all about detail, elegance and nuance. It's the first bottling from 2024, as shown on the neck label. Here, they have two botas with biological wine and seven oxidative, and the bottled wine has a combination of both characters, with finesse and freshness, an elegant mouthfeel and some fine-boned character. It has some iron and iodine, hazelnuts and varnish, keeping hints of apricots and a spirity twist and the textbook notes of salted caramel and orange peel.
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.