Bodegas Poniente Palo Cortado

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This rare Palo Cortado is named after the Poniente winds, cool and humid Atlantic western winds. Following the arc of history, winemaker Alberto Orte embraces his family’s rich tradition of solera system wines from Montilla-Moriles to create this unparalleled project from El Aljibe. Poniente sherries are the product of the thoughtful blending of precious, treasured soleras and criaderas from the 18th and 19th centuries, refreshed in the traditional method each year with wine from our own organically farmed estate vineyards (San Cristóbal, San José y El Aljibe) in the Pago Añina, one of only three Pago sites in Jerez designated as Jerez Superior. The wines are produced and aged in our historical estate, a restored house tucked among the vines of El Aljibe.

WHAT MAKES THIS WINE UNIQUE?

This Palo Cortado comes from a system of five criaderas and one solera, with a median age of over 30 years. The wines used to refresh the fifth criadera comes from our estate.

RATING HISTORY:

NV 94WA, 94JS

GRAPE:

100% Palomino

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS:

We recommend serving in a white wine glass, starting around 50F with optimal consumption reaching 57F. The bottle can remain open for one year, although the longer it remains open, the wine may present with a slight haziness which will not affect its taste or texture. If cellaring for a long time in bottle, we recommend decanting before serving.

VINIFICATION AND AGING:

This Palo Cortado comes from a system of five criaderas and one solera, with a median age of over 30 years. The wines used to refresh the fifth criadera comes from Alberto's organically farmed estate vineyards in the Pago Añina.

LOCATION, SOIL, CLIMATE:

The wines are produced from estate vineyards (San Cristóbal, San José y El Aljibe) in the Pago Añina, and aged at our historical estate, a restored house tucked among the vines of El Aljibe. Jerez is one of the most southerly growing regions and is known for hot dry summers mitigated by the Atlantic Ocean influence. The growing season, spring and summer, are marked by the influence of the Poniente (cool and humid westerly wind) and the levante (hot and dry wind from the south east). The area receives a predominately high exposure of sunlight hours ranging from 3,000 to 3,200 a season. During the fall winter an average of 600 meters (almost 2,000 ft) of heavy rains drench the parched white loam of chalk and clay known as albariza, which forms a crust and locks in the moisture for summer reserves.

ALCOHOL CONTENT:

21.50%

UPC CODE:

8437015799926

BOTTLE WEIGHT:

1.4 lbs (.65 kg)