Winemaker Notes
True Amontillados are naturally-aged versions of the best finos, and are totally dry. Napoleon is a rare example of an authentic amontillado from manzanilla origins in a rich yet long, lean and elegant style.
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
Panel Tasting
"A great wine: complex and expressive, melding the deep expression of amontillado and the fresh lightness of manzanilla."-P.T.
"Glorious amber color with reddish tinges. A nose laden with vanilla, almonds, coconut and mocha. Pungent, punchy palate: firm grip, very intense. Powerfully salty but with an underlying fruit note to soften the briskness. Long and superbly complex: Sherry at its unique best." -S.E.
"Deep amber hue. Very concentrated, pungent nose of toffee and roasted nuts. Bone dry palate that is very specifically manzanilla with an underlying saltiness. Well balanced and powerful." -N.R.
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Wine Spectator
Lovely notes of singed almond, praline and Brazil nut weave in and around a core of bitter orange and salted caramel flavors, with a lingering green tea echo giving the finish extra tension. Drink now. 1,660 cases made, 720 cases imported.
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Decanter
Graceful and complex with layers of buttery toasted nuts, glazed citrus and honey with a saline, mineral backbone and long length.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium amber, nutty... a dry style sherry, also a fine aperitif.
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.