FTLOP: A Forum for Port, Madiera, and SHERRY?
Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 7:55 pm
You may be aware, Roy, that one thing that highly interests me are high-quality top-end sherries. They are so in many ways like ports and madieras, and can scale much the same heights, that I wonder if eventually you'll have this a forum for 'Ports, Madiera, and Sherries." Do you, as I suspect, have a smattering of knowledge about the high end of sherry? It's often marvelously underpriced. For instance, I picked up a bottle of Very Rare Amontillado 51-1a from Domecq, a 30-year-class Amontillado. [/size]
I understand that since 2000 a special class of age-dated reserve sherries have been certified. They are called:
VOS – Vinum Optimum Signatum or Very Old Sherry. This is the designation for 20+ year old Sherry.
VORS –]Vinum Optimum Rare Signatum or Very Old Rare Sherry. This is the designation for 30+ year old Sherry.
These “Age Dated” Sherries will have a special label attached to them authenticating their status.
(Thanks to Gonzalez Byass for this information.)
These types are not the only examples of exquisite, great Sherry, which is available in several styles and from very dry to molasses-like. As a matter of fact, it may be impossible from the labeling to determine exactly the nature of the goody inside the container, but usually Sherry makers are very generous with information to their best customers; they are restricted in how much data can go onto the label. Some exquisite old rarities can sometimes be found in tiny quantities when the contents of great cellars are auctioned, and so that's a place to look as well. I once found a Solera Reserve Amontillado rarity from Gomecq at a New York auction, obviously in bottle for 25 or more years (I'd seen it previously three decades when a special batch was let into the US market). I think I paid $50 for this little gem, whose average age must have been approximate to the 51-1a or even older..
In addition, the caveat that applies to every wine applies here. You don't drink the label, and there are very bad examples that can be found of these item.. However, I'm surprised that there are such evenly high quality lines of these wines available. There is no guarantee, but there is plenty of motivation to explore.
The Amontillado 51-1a Very Rare Amontillado previously mentioned is certified in the VORS category, although some bottles of it were released under the old system. It is an exquisite wine–distinctive, forceful, and complex; utterly dry and yet with considerable richness, and a nearly infinite finish. If it has any faults it may be that it is just too perfect–it takes a lot of attention to detail to enjoy such a wine, and so be ready to work when you sip it. It calls out for as big an intellectual effort as a great Bordeaux.
And, given that it is in this ‘first growth’ class, do you want to know how much I paid for it? Hold your breath. $26. That’s right. $26. It was a shelf orphan from a few years back that I discovered at Holiday Market in Royal Oak, Michigan. Finding that there was no more there or anywhere in Michigan, I did run down a bottle in New York. How much did it cost at current prices? $76. Still such a steal that I cannot imagine it. I believe only 200 or 300 bottles are removed from this solera every year so as not to spoil it. The average age is something like FIFTY plus years, with some wines as old as 70 years! If I had to rate this wine I’d give it perhaps 98 points. I’ve had the bottle open for several months now and it shows little sign on flagging.
I hate to give away the secret, but if you can learn to enjoy the perhaps slightly odd style of Sherry (compared with the rest of Spanish and world white wines) you will be walking into some of the greatest bargains available anywhere in the world of wine. I can drop one or two names but let’s let that go until later, or in another place. [/b]
If you would like this topic to be moved to another forum, Roy, please feel free to do so. Just let me know where it ended up. I was uncertain where it belonged, so it got here first.
I understand that since 2000 a special class of age-dated reserve sherries have been certified. They are called:
VOS – Vinum Optimum Signatum or Very Old Sherry. This is the designation for 20+ year old Sherry.
VORS –]Vinum Optimum Rare Signatum or Very Old Rare Sherry. This is the designation for 30+ year old Sherry.
These “Age Dated” Sherries will have a special label attached to them authenticating their status.
(Thanks to Gonzalez Byass for this information.)
These types are not the only examples of exquisite, great Sherry, which is available in several styles and from very dry to molasses-like. As a matter of fact, it may be impossible from the labeling to determine exactly the nature of the goody inside the container, but usually Sherry makers are very generous with information to their best customers; they are restricted in how much data can go onto the label. Some exquisite old rarities can sometimes be found in tiny quantities when the contents of great cellars are auctioned, and so that's a place to look as well. I once found a Solera Reserve Amontillado rarity from Gomecq at a New York auction, obviously in bottle for 25 or more years (I'd seen it previously three decades when a special batch was let into the US market). I think I paid $50 for this little gem, whose average age must have been approximate to the 51-1a or even older..
In addition, the caveat that applies to every wine applies here. You don't drink the label, and there are very bad examples that can be found of these item.. However, I'm surprised that there are such evenly high quality lines of these wines available. There is no guarantee, but there is plenty of motivation to explore.
The Amontillado 51-1a Very Rare Amontillado previously mentioned is certified in the VORS category, although some bottles of it were released under the old system. It is an exquisite wine–distinctive, forceful, and complex; utterly dry and yet with considerable richness, and a nearly infinite finish. If it has any faults it may be that it is just too perfect–it takes a lot of attention to detail to enjoy such a wine, and so be ready to work when you sip it. It calls out for as big an intellectual effort as a great Bordeaux.
And, given that it is in this ‘first growth’ class, do you want to know how much I paid for it? Hold your breath. $26. That’s right. $26. It was a shelf orphan from a few years back that I discovered at Holiday Market in Royal Oak, Michigan. Finding that there was no more there or anywhere in Michigan, I did run down a bottle in New York. How much did it cost at current prices? $76. Still such a steal that I cannot imagine it. I believe only 200 or 300 bottles are removed from this solera every year so as not to spoil it. The average age is something like FIFTY plus years, with some wines as old as 70 years! If I had to rate this wine I’d give it perhaps 98 points. I’ve had the bottle open for several months now and it shows little sign on flagging.
I hate to give away the secret, but if you can learn to enjoy the perhaps slightly odd style of Sherry (compared with the rest of Spanish and world white wines) you will be walking into some of the greatest bargains available anywhere in the world of wine. I can drop one or two names but let’s let that go until later, or in another place. [/b]
If you would like this topic to be moved to another forum, Roy, please feel free to do so. Just let me know where it ended up. I was uncertain where it belonged, so it got here first.
