Valdesil Montenovo Godello 2022

Fashioned from the Estate's younger vineyards spread across the slate-ridden Valdeorran villages of Rubiá, A Rúa, Larouco, Petín and O Bolo, this lays down a seriously impressive marker. Each soil type or plot is vinified independently and malo is suppressed. The result is a crystalline, pulpy and racy wine with a chalky, almost Chablis-like tangy personality and invigorating notes of nectarine, white flowers and straw. A lovely cleansing finish with a twist of crushed tarragon. A superb example of Godello.

Country: Spain
Region: Valdeorras

Toro Albalá Palo Cortado Marques de Poley Selección 1964 750ml

22% ABV. "The 1964 Palo Cortado Marqués de Poley Selección was aged in a solera system of which 50 botas remain. It's a very old fortified wine produced with Pedro Ximénez grapes, aged in well-seasoned American oak barrels. It is full-bodied, which hints at an Oloroso origin, and has the aromas of a very old wine with rusty nail, saltpeter, low tide, phosphor and matchstick notes with a volatile twist. Wines like this are not meant to be consumed by … more

Country: Spain
Producer: Toro Albala
Region: Montilla Moriles

Toro Albalá Palo Cortado Marques de Poley Selección 1964 200ml

22% ABV. "The 1964 Palo Cortado Marqués de Poley Selección was aged in a solera system of which 50 botas remain. It's a very old fortified wine produced with Pedro Ximénez grapes, aged in well-seasoned American oak barrels. It is full-bodied, which hints at an Oloroso origin, and has the aromas of a very old wine with rusty nail, saltpeter, low tide, phosphor and matchstick notes with a volatile twist. Wines like this are not meant to be consumed by … more

Country: Spain
Producer: Toro Albala
Region: Montilla Moriles

Toro Albala Don PX Pedro Ximenez Seleccion 1968 200ml

"Going up the ladder of age, concentration, complexity (and price), the 1968 Don PX Seleccion aged in American oak butts for some 47 years before bottling, and was never blended with any other vintage. The wine has 340 grams of unfermented sugar and higher acidity given its age, as evaporation in barrel concentrates everything. This is somehow less dense and more pungent than the other old sweet wines, with more spices, lots of cinnamon and cocoa powder. It's more fluid, … more

Country: Spain
Producer: Toro Albala
Region: Montilla Moriles

Toro Albalá Don PX Pedro Ximénez Gran Reserva 2002 375ml

Country: Spain
Producer: Toro Albala
Region: Montilla Moriles

Toro Albalá Don PX Pedro Ximénez Gran Reserva 1986 Magnum

Toro Albala reserve select lots of their best vintage wines for the Gran Reserva label. These unusually rich Pedro Ximenez wines are destined for a very long aging in oak barrels. After filling and sealing, these barrels are left for decades in their single-vintage state. It's during this slow maturation that the wines undertake their delicious, savoury, rancio transformation (though controlled exposure to oxygen) which brings a kind of nutty, iodine character that infinitely complexes the wine but also gives … more

Country: Spain
Producer: Toro Albala
Region: Montilla Moriles

Toro Albala Don PX Pedro Ximenez Convento Seleccion 1955 375ml

"One more single-harvest, old sweet wine, the 1955 Don PX Convento Selección was bottled in September 2014 and it had been aged slowly in very old American oak barrels and getting thick and concentrated through evaporation. It's 320 grams of sugar are (partially) compensated by 6.5 grams of acidity. It has a nose and palate of chocolate-covered candied orange, spices, molasses. I'd say the dominant aromas in the nose are dark chocolate. It's very dense, developing notes of very concentrated … more

Country: Spain
Producer: Toro Albala
Region: Montilla Moriles

Toro Albala Amontillado Seleccion 1951 200ml

21% ABV. "My favorite of the two Amontillados is the 1951 Amontillado Selección a rare, single-vintage Amontillado produced with Pedro Ximénez grapes as is the norm in Montilla-Moriles. It's a bright mahogany color with an amber-green tint that reveals pharmaceutical notes and balsamic, with roasted, charred aromas and a sweetish palate that retains the sharpness expected in this kind of wine. It is lacking a bit in the mid-palate before ending with a slightly bitter, tarry finish. This is completely … more

Country: Spain
Producer: Toro Albala
Region: Montilla Moriles

Toro Albala Amontillado Marques de Poley 1951 750ml

Country: Spain
Producer: Toro Albala
Region: Montilla Moriles

Telmo Rodriguez 'Tabueringa' Tempranillo 2020

A labour of love from Telmo Rodriguez, the 2014 was the first of several vintages they vinified that they were willing to release to public. It was clearly worth the wait because within each bottle is some quintessential Rioja ready to draw you in. The vines are located in an amphitheatre near the village of Labastida, mainly Tempranillo with some Graciano, Mazuelo and a smattering of other local varieties. Clay, wild raspberries, lavender and wild herbs waft up from the … more

Country: Spain
Producer: Telmo Rodriguez
Region: Rioja

Telmo Rodriguez 'Tabueringa' Tempranillo 2018

A labour of love from Telmo Rodriguez, the 2014 was the first of several vintages they vinified that they were willing to release to public. It was clearly worth the wait because within each bottle is some quintessential Rioja ready to draw you in. The vines are located in an amphitheatre near the village of Labastida, mainly Tempranillo with some Graciano, Mazuelo and a smattering of other local varieties. Clay, wild raspberries, lavender and wild herbs waft up from the … more

Country: Spain
Producer: Telmo Rodriguez
Region: Rioja

Serra i Barceló Aucalà Garnatxa Blanca 2021

Winemaker Josep Serra grows Garnatxa Blanca from several plots around the village of Gandesa, in the locale known as Aucalà. The landscape here is dominated by Mediterranean pine. 2013 is the first Aucalà release. Prior to commencing with his own wine, Josep for 10 years was the winemaker­consultant to Editaria, perhaps the region's best wine until the advent of Aucalà, which considerably exceeds it.

"If the world needed something like Rhone whites, but not those, then this would be it!"

Country: Spain
Region: Terra Alta

Santiago Ruiz Rias Baixas O Rosal Albarino 2022

Ángel Ruiz, the grandfather of the eponymous Santiago Ruiz, was making wine here in the 1860s and was one of the first people to bottle wines from the region we now know as Rías Baixas. Santiago however was the first to market the Estate wines. Ruiz was nicknamed 'The Father of Albariño' for the vital role he played in the establishment of the Rías Baixas DO in the late 1980s. Today, the estate is run by Santiago's daughter Rosa.

The … more

Country: Spain
Region: Rias Baixas

Sanchez Romate Amontillado NPU

Romate's entry level Amontillado, but quality is not in doubt. Drink as an aperitf in cooler weather.

Country: Spain
Producer: Romate
Region: Jerez

Sanchez Ayala 'Gabriela' Manzanilla Vina Las Cañas (Pago Balbaína) 375ml

Sanchez Ayala are an undiscovered treat here in Australia. Much used by the Navazos project, this bodega makes some wonderful Sherries, of which this is a terrific starting point.

This is superb value.

Classic flor notes dominate the aromatics, but don't overpower the wine - there are still nuances of fresh bread, almond and saline notes. The palate is quite delicate but wonderfully fresh with excellent racy, salty flor-driven Manzanilla character.

Country: Spain
Producer: Sanchez Ayala
Region: Jerez
Sub Region: Sanlucar de Barrameda