'Blanco' Palomino-PX 2022
$42.00 RRP
Predominantly Palomino (85-90%), the grapes are chilled to 6% for a day, then sorted, de-stemmed and pressed into stainless steel vats to ferment. The Blanco is spontaneously fermented long and cool at 15 degrees and over 3 weeks. It ages for 4 months on lees in stainless steel. A small amount of sulphur is added at bottling, but not elsewhere in the winemaking process.
A lovely pale yellow with a flash of green, it's really brilliant in the glass. At first, it smells custard apple rich, then it's cut (nay, slashed!) by lime rind to affect a very subtle nose as fruit yields to the earthy-fresh sandy Albariza terroir. Golden and gentle, the mouth has the same great balance - spicy rich pear fruit eases into the gently mineral-earthen savouriness of the soil. A tremendously harmonious wine with extraordinary life given its hot climate up-bringing. There is a definite oyster-shell sea-tang in the mouth, with lovely acid nipping through quite full (but beautifully formed) skinsy fruit tannin. There's a cereal character, think barley water rather than barley sugar, so it is full and round but not rich in any normal sense - thank you, sea-salt!