Lustau Moscatel Emilin Sherry (375mL)

Muscatel grapes, the Spanish way of spelling Muscat of Alexandria, is widely planted in many countries and regions around Mediterranean coast. Nonetheless it is involved in only about 1% of Sherry production. Almost all planted in the sandy soil, around the town Chipiona. For this particular wine, from Lustau’s vineyard “Las Cruces” in Chipiona. 

The local soil is known as ‘Arenas’, a sandy yellow-coloured regolith that distinctive from the more common Albariza calcareous soil. When the Moscatel grapes are harvested, part of them will be fermented to dryness, others sun-dried to press into a thick syrupy juice. They both will once again be blended together after fortification to create a sweet wine of 17% alcohol strength. The spirit used for fortification is neutral in flavour. At 96%+ strength, only about 2% of the wine is made by the spirit, thus it wouldn’t influence much of the wine’s taste profile at all.

Then the wine is aged in oxidative environment, to gain its unique flavour. All vessels used for ageing are American oak casks, in the traditional “Solera y Criaderas” system in the Lustau bodegas in Jerez de la Frontera.

Despite this Sherry is a non-vintage product. The Solera system prevents any young wines to be bottled. The finished product that’s ready to be bottled is in dark mahogany colour with a iodine rim. Intense floral and citric aromas, showing Moscatel varietal at its best.
Smooth and rich on the palate, reminiscent of dried fruits and spices. This wine has great length and sweetness, yet balanced by its natural acidity.

Parker’s team really like this wine, gave it a generous score of 96 out of 100.