Buy & Hold: Rare and Fine Wines

Sherry is not often top-of-mind when one thinks of cellar worthy wines, but most connoissuers of VORS vintage sherries know that they are an excellent way to begin, or augment, a fine wine collection. Source these recommendations through fine wine merchants.

Bodegas Yuste
Palo Cortado ‘Conde de Aldama’;
Cellar Master: Franciso Paco Yuste

Background: In 1888, the phylloxera plague descended on the Sherry region and the Conde de Aldama sealed his best casks in plaster to protect their value and prevent their mixture with wines from newer, grafted vines. In 1927, the Aldama heirs liquidated their holdings but the casks remained sealed until the acquisition by Francisco Yuste in 2001. The estimated average age of ‘Conde de Aldama’ Palo Cortado is well over 100+ years (one of the oldest in Sherry Triangle). With only 8 casks available, bottlings of this Palo Cortado are very rare.

Eye: The color is like burnished red mahogany with fine green brim, just what you’d expect from a VORS sherry of this age.

Nose: A true “handkerchief wine,” very expressive with intense aromas of polished woods, notes of butterscotch/toffee, cognac…hints of tobacco, citrus, salt air, exotic spices.

Mouth: Bone dry but with great finesse anchored in the salinity of its coastal Sanlúcar origins. Endless notes of almonds, dried fig, raisins, and citrus peel balance any sharpness, with the final result being stunningly elegant.

Bodegas Gonzalez Byass
Cuatro Palmas Amontillado,
Cellar Master: Antonio Flores

Background: The ‘palma’ is a traditional chalk mark made on sherry casks to indicate wines of exceptional finesse. In 2011, González Byass began using these marks as inspiration for a series of exclusive sherries to be released in small quantities. In bottles ranging from one through four, the wines are four expressions of the same wine at different stages of ageing. Amontillado Cuatro Palmas is taken from Solera Museo, located in one of their oldest bodegas called La Cuadrada. Only four casks remain in the cellars (at time of this writing); the average age is 50+ years, bottled en rama. With 98 points, it is the only sherry on the James Suckling 2018 Top 100 List.

Eye: The color appears deep red, garnet even, where VORS of this age appear more caramel colored.

Nose: Lots of exotic spices, almonds, caramel, dried fruits (prunes, raisin, orange peel). Hints of tobacco, polished woods, iodine. A bit of dark cocoa as well. Hugely complex.

Mouth: Powerful entry but impressively silky smooth, elegant. Clear wood influence with varnish notes, and hints of citrus and spice, piquante. Round, very long finish. An exceptional amontillado.

— Christina Spearman