Lustau rare Amontillado Escuadrilla (375mL) Dry Sherry

This Amontillado Sherry is a small production quality wine from Bodegas of Escuadrilla, commissioned by Lustau.

As an Amontillado style Sherry, it began by finely selecting Palomino grapes, which their vines are planted on Albariza soil. A special local soil made from calcareous clay. Infertile but very good at retaining water, due to the fact Albariza would form a thick crust on the surface once dried. According to the D.O. regulations, per hectare can produce no more than 80 hL of juice, but in this case the yield is limited to around 60hL. And the pressing had been done gently, per 100kg grapes only produce about 70L juices. Consider that Sherry making is not fond of any phenolic compounds presence.

The first year of Amontillado after fermentation and fortification undergoes biological ageing similar to Fino style. Then from the second year gone, it’s moved into a separate Solera system, while having its alcohol by volume lifted to 17%+, eliminating any flor, expose the wine openly to the air. Oxidative aroma starts to form, and its colour deepens.  After some years of ageing, its alcohol level settles at 18.5%. Average age of this wine is around 12 years, including four in Solera system.

The end result is a dry and elegant Sherry on the palate, with a long spicy aftertaste. Interestingly the strong presence of Acetaldehyde is solely on the nose, yet nuttiness like walnut, hazelnut and almond is very powerful in the mouth.  6g/L residual sugar, pH: 3.1 , Parker team manages to grant this wine a generous score of 94/100.