Equipo Navazos Jesús Barquin and Eduardo Ojeda Andalucia, Spain “Every wine region needs a few extraordinary individuals to champion its cause, and Barquín is one.” Andrew Jefford, Decanter “There’s not too much to say about this exceptional curator of some of the finest wines in Andalucía that we have not already published.” Equipo Navazos—Sherry Genius, Jancis Robinson MW “What is agreed upon is that Equipo Navazos offer a range of both delicious and thoughtprovoking sherries. If you are embarking upon a journey into the wonderful world of sherry, then I cannot think of a better springboard than Equipo Navazos.” Neal Martin, The Wine Advocate “Equipo Navazos make mindblowing Sherries. I’m drinking one at the moment, and it’s a lifeenhancing experience.” Jamie Goode, www.wineanorak.com “They are not cheap. But then nor is Grand Cru Burgundy.” Jancis Robinson, www.jancisrobinson.com Equipo Navazos was perhaps the most significant thing to happen in the world of Sherry in modern wine history. The project was started by a group of Spanish Sherry lovers led by one of Spain’s leading experts and writers on Sherry, Jesús Barquín, together with one of Jerez’s leading tasters and blenders, Eduardo Ojeda (technical director for the Estévez group, which owns Valdespino and La Guita Manzanilla). One day in late 2005, Ojeda and Barquín were tasting through some 400 casks of Manzanilla at the bodega of Sánchez Ayala in Sanlucar. As their tasting duties rolled up, they discovered a shrinking Amontillado solera in the cellar that had been fairly much abandoned for 20 years. Amontillado was struggling for a market at the time, and so the owner had been topping up the angel’s share with stock from the same solera rather than refreshing it with new stock. It was exceptional. Barquín realised he could buy a cask of this one-of-a-kind, very old Amontillado and share it with friends. It became La Bota No. 1 (named so because of a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, ‘The Cask of Amontillado’. Since that first cask, each successive, limited-edition bottling has been numbered accordingly and bottled en rama, straight from the cask. The wines are sourced from the region’s rarest, most significant (and hitherto neglected) solera systems, and selected for sheer quality as well as their distinct personalities. Initially, these bottlings were intended only for a select group of friends and professionals, but the initial response to the wines was so enthusiastic that it became evident to those behind Equipo Navazos that something important could come of this idea; namely, the opportunity to remind the world of just how great Sherry could be. Guided by their vast knowledge and unparalleled contacts, the Equipo has gone on to assemble arguably the finest offering of Sherries in the world, while also highlighting the great historical and cultural traditions that lie behind Sherry and the Jerez region.
La Bota 48 Palo Cortado “Bota Punta” Saca of December 2013 DO Jerez-Xérès-Sherry 21.5% alc. – 375ml Bodega: Gaspar Florido / Pedro Romero Sanlúcar de Barrameda
This is not only a stunning Palo Cortado but also the Bota Punta, meaning that it comes from a single barrel, topped up with wine from other butts in the solera rather than from the criaderas. It’s therefore utterly unique and rarer than rare. Today these butts (the ‘Bota NO’ and the Bota Punta of Gaspar Floridos GF-30 solera used for the No.’s 47 and 48) are stored at the Sacristía of Pedro Romero, very close to their original location. Here, Navazos had the opportunity to revisit them and sample them exhaustively to select their favourites for these elite editions of “La Bota”: it is again a truly extraordinary wine for its unlikely balance between sheer authenticity, concentration, and finesse; genuinely amazing, with so much character and personality. And of course, it belongs in the higher echelon of traditional Andalusían wines—which is to say, amongst the greatest wines in the world. “Another old, rare and concentrated Sherry, the NV La Bota de Palo Cortado Bota Punta 48 is a single-cask, very old (around 70 years of age) Palo Cortado originated in the vineyards of Gaspar Florido in Sanlúcar de Barrameda. It aged for a long time allowing it to gain concentration over time, most probably with a few years under flor in its youth. It’s sharp and pungent, really intense in the palate. It has notes of cigar ash, hints of malted cereals, peat, and smoke, with a super-intense palate with persistent flavors and an extremely salty, really concentrated ending. Simply superb!” 98 points, Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
La Bota 50 Manzanilla Pasada Saca of January 2014 D.O. Manzanilla Sanlúcar de Barrameda 16.2% alc. – 50cl Hijos de Rainera Pérez Marín Sanlúcar de Barrameda
This comes from the same “Bota Punta” that sired the brilliant No. 20 and No. 40 Manzanilla Pasadas and this stunning wine easily lives up to the high expectations set by its remarkable predecessors. What makes this wine truly unique—and gifted with unmatched biological character (intense and steely, salty notes on the palate)—is that the butts have been filled up to a tocadedos level (‘finger level’) which is well above the 5/6 mark that is common in the Sherry district. Thanks to this process, the layer of yeast/ flor inside these butts lives much longer and is kept alive thanks to the barrel’s regular refreshment with younger wine. This flor—significantly thinner and weakened by the average age of the wine—acts as a wafer-thin barrier between the wine and the oxidizing effect of air. It’s a wine that offers such finesse; such minerality; such length; such savoury, racy, essence of the ocean. And so long too. Lovers of authentic Manzanilla—get ready to have your mind blown! “The NV La Bota de Manzanilla Pasada Bota Punta 50 is sourced mainly from the Pago Miraflores and aged in 600 liter American oak barrels for 15 years, the first 10 with plenty of flor and the following five with the butts almost full and with a weak veil of yeasts, as the wine starts moving towards being Amontillado. Only one special bota made it into this bottling, one out of 15 that has very marked biological character, a Manzanilla, very old, but still Manzanilla with very little - if any - Amontillado character. The palate is sharp and full with an intensely saline character marked by notes of brine, iodine and sea breeze that end with sea water. This is a unique Manzanilla.” 95+ points, Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
La Bota 68 Fino “Macharnudo Alto” Saca of June, 2016 D.O. Jerez – Xérès – Sherry 15% alc. – 75cl Valdespino Jerez de la Frontera
Equipo Navazos’ Macharnudo Alto bottling—drawn from Valdespino’s Inocente solera—probably needs no introduction to our audience. No. 68 is a saca made in June 2016 from the same batch of casks that already gave us the seven previous (and legendary!) editions of this wine (the most recent being No. 54). This new release has an estimated average age of between ten and eleven years and comes specifically from a selection of casks from the first and the second criaderas. The nose shows very complex aromas of dried fruits and grilled nuts, partially because of the autolysis of dead “flor” yeasts resting on the bottom of the vessels. The palate is pulpy, textured and has a super complex, spicy and racy close. It’s a wine packed with personality and chalky, iodine goodness. “The NV La Bota de Fino Macharnudo Alto 68 is a similar wine to what was bottled in the editions 54, 34, 27, 18, 15, 7 and 2; it is produced like the wines from yesteryear, fermented in bota and kept in contact with flor for some ten years. This is a classic already, and they are bottling more or less the same botas as in previous editions. Here, the soil is as strong (or more) than the long aging, and has lots of things in common, the chalkiness, with their other wines (think Navazos Niepoort for example), which provide a special sapidity. Some 6,000 bottles produced; they are producing a little bit more, so the wine is bottled every two years, as the wine ages nicely in bottle.” 94 points, Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
La Bota 69 Amontillado “Magnum” Saca of September, 2016 D.O. Jerez – Xérès – Sherry 18% alc. – 150cl Sanlúcar de Barrameda
During refurbishments to the historic Calle Misericordia in Sanlúcar de Barrameda (home to the La Guita solera), several special vessels stood out due to their size and origins. One such vessel was a magnificent tonel gordo (i.e., 2,000 litre cask) situated in a corner of the room, separated from the main rows of casks that were standing by the wall. Navazos had this single large cask filled with a selection of the best Amontillados of the house (the same genealogy as the previous releases: No. 37 and No. 58, etc.), refreshed with a moderate proportion of the extraordinary Manzanilla Pasada from Misericordia. The resulting wine was aged for a few more years—until the contents of the tonel had fully integrated—and then bottled. A natural Amontillado with an average approximate age of 17-18 years old. It’s a brilliant aperitif, yet will work beautifully with a wide range of food; from seafood (thanks to its intense salty minerality) and white meats to spicy Asian food, and of course, tapas. “And now that they have started, I hope they don’t stop. Releasing magnums, that is! So the NV La Bota de Amontillado 69 Mágnum is from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, from the pago Miraflores vineyard. It is relatively young (15-20 years) Amontillado from a tonel filled with wine from a solera in their winery in the Carretera de Jerez. It has some creaminess and is approachable in the nose, with a roundish palate - within the sharpness of these marine amontillados - that is quite tasty. This will be bottled in magnums only and released around the summer. They expect to fill some 650 magnums.” 93-95 points, Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
La Bota 70 Manzanilla Pasada “Magnum” Saca of September, 2016 D.O. Manzanilla Sanlúcar de Barrameda 16% alc. – 150cl Sanlúcar de Barrameda
The same backstory as the above Amontillado magnum (No.69), but here, two toneles of 90 arrobas (i.e., 1,500 litres each) were filled with a selection of the best wines of the first criadera (1/41) of the extraordinary Manzanilla Pasada from Misericordia (same genealogy as the stunning La Bota No’s. 10, 20, 30, etc.). The average age of the wine is estimated to be around 13 years old. It is a complex and powerful wine, a striking Sherry of balanced freshness and fine oxidative notes. Stunningly versatile at the dinner table, it matches a wide variety of food, including rich fish dishes, charcuterie, truffled eggs, etc. Best served at around 11º C in quality stemware. “This is a little younger than the other bottlings of Manzanilla Pasada, and also a little lighter. Eduardo Ojeda started putting some wines away in the Calle Misericordia winery, some 41 casks that were turned into criaderas of the manzanilla pasada; and from those casks, he selected 2,000 liters that put into two 1,000-liter barrels that are thought to be over 100 years of age. The wine can be around ten-years-old. They also sourced a younger wine to make the magnums more affordable. It has the more oxidative character than the older wines, as if the begging of the oxidative phase is somehow disturbing after the long biological aging. The wine shows much better in the palate where you find a solid wine. This is a younger brother (or sister) of the older manzanillas pasadas, which should develop nicely once it is bottled - and especially in magnum. They expect to fill 1,300 magnums from two 1,000-liter barrel.” 93-96 points, Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
La Bota 75 Palo Cordado “Sanlúcar” Saca of July 2017 D.O. Jerez – Xérès – Sherry 18% alc. – 75cl Hijos de Rainera Pérez Marín Sanlúcar de Barrameda
This truly delicate, engaging Palo Cortado is not only something truly wondrous in the glass, it is also a type of sherry that is beyond rare because, firstly, it is a brilliant, authentic Palo Cortado! And secondly, because it is both a single-vineyard and a single-vintage wine. As per La Bota 52, this is derived from a selection of musts coming from grapes harvested in a single vintage (2010) in the Pago Miraflores, in Sanlúcar de Barrameda. This is the same vineyard that gives us the Florpower wines. The wines were fermented in tank and only saw a very brief period of ageing under flor before being fortified and sent to Sherry butts and barriques that were filled almost all the way up (a tocadedos) to avoid too much oxidation. For this first saca Navazos have selected the contents of six botas. The ageing in barrel has only been for three and a half years (historically it was longer for Palo Cortado). There are different ways that Palos are produced these days but Equipo Navazos believe that the above methodology is the most ‘authentic’ way to produce a PC. Only 18% alcohol, which again is low for PC. “Navazos already bottled a very young Palo Cortado from Sanlúcar with the number 52 back in 2014, and it’s now time for a new edition, the NV La Bota de Palo Cortado 75 “Sanlúcar.” It’s produced with grapes from the Miraflores La Baja vineyard in Sanlúcar de Barrameda from the 2010 harvest—even if the vintage date is not shown on the label. Fermented in stainless steel, it achieved a natural alcohol level of around 12% and was straight away fortified to 17.5% alcohol. This has developed very nicely since the first bottling, with more precision and character, and it feels more “palo cortado,” with notes of aromatic herbs and a sweetish tone, hints of apricots and a very expressive and tasty finish.” 92 points, Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
La Bota 86 Palo Cortado “Bota No” Saca of October 2018 D.O.P. Montilla – Moriles 19% alc. – 375ml Pérez Barquero Montilla
Bottled from a single cask, the 86 was sourced from Pérez Barquero’s Bodega Los Amigos in Montilla. This is another remarkable and unique expression. The wine started out as an Oloroso but due to its uncommon finesse, it was then classed as Palo Cortado. Barquín credits the source vineyard—the high-altitude Altos de Moriles, home to Montilla’s finest albarizas—and the precision for tempering the opulence of old vine Montilla PX. We have come to associate La Bota’s half-bottle format with extremely old, concentrated wines (No’s. 73 and 78, for instance) but this bottling chimes in at just 30 years old. It is bottled in halves due to the wine’s scarcity and its sheer quality. It really is a staggering wine. Despite the remarkable finesse and even delicacy, you only need a small glass to be satisfied, such is the intensity. “It’s around 30 years of age and from Montilla-Moriles, not from Jerez, and therefore produced with Pedro Ximénez grapes (selected because of the variety’s purity and finesse) instead of Palomino. It was produced by Pérez Barquero, one of the finest producers in Montilla-Moriles—as the finesse of this wine confirms. This is now 19% alcohol, allegedly from sheer concentration through evaporation. But this is not as concentrated and pungent as the extremely old wines; this feels lighter and more delicate, with the finesse and verticality (even if it was never aged under flor) that is expected from the biological wines. It started its life as an Oloroso, but given that fine character, it was deemed a Palo Cortado. And even within the Palo Cortado, this is extremely elegant. This is a true Palo Cortado, a fine oxidative wine. 1,100 bottles were filled in October 2018.” 95 points, Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine
La Bota 90 Manzanilla Pasada “Capataz Cabo” Saca of February 2019 D.O. Manzanilla Sanlúcar de Barrameda 16,5% alc - 750ml Sanlúcar de Barrameda
This prodigious Manzanilla had never been bottled until Equipo Navazos selected it in 2008 for its 10th La Bota release. This was followed two years later by No. 20 Bota Punta. No. 90 was just the fourth saca of what is surely one of the most complex and flat-out delicious dry sherries that exists in the world today (in bottle at least). Over the last decade (under the direction of Navazos’ Eduardo Ojeda) this solera of just 15 casks has been carefully managed by Capataz Cabo, one of the region’s great cellarmasters whose work is now commemorated on the label. This bottling has an average age of around 14 years and is a wine of singular and intense biological character (powerful steely notes of salinity on the palate). There are two keys to unlocking the style and quality here. Firstly, the lion’s share of the Palomino has come from Sanlúcar’s de-facto Grand Cru pago, Miraflores. Then there is the way the butts were filled through the maturation process; almost up to a tocadedos (within finger reach from the top) which is well above the 5/6 customary in the Sherry region. “This is nuttier than the regular Manzanilla and even nuttier than the majority of Manzanilla Pasada, keeping the saline and marine character, hints of iodine and low tide, but also something floral and more ethereal. The palate is super expressive and explosive, pungent and nuanced, with very pure and long-lasting flavors. Really impressive. It should be bottled by the time this report comes out. This is truly impressive and should make a monumental wine. 2,500 bottles to be produced.” 96-97 points, Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
La Bota 96 Amontillado “Magnum” Saca of November, 2019 D.O. Jerez – Xérès – Sherry 18% alc. – 1500ml Jerez de la Frontera Production: 600 magnums
See La Bota 69 above. This wine was bottled in November 2019, some three years following La Bota 69. A natural Amontillado with an average age of around 17- to 18 years old, it’s a wonderfully layered and textural wine, yet has the drive and intense salinity that makes it a killer match with anything salty. It’s a brilliant aperitif and will also work beautifully with a wide range of food thanks to its intense salty minerality. Try oysters, salted fish, tapas, white meat dishes, or spicy Asian food. This rates off the charts on the official BDS Scale (Bibendum Deliciousness Scale). A magnum is barely enough!
La Bota 99 Florpower “Antes de la flor” White wine, vintage 2019 (MMXIX) 11.5% alc. – 750ml Sanlúcar de Barrameda 2,400 bottles
Screwcap. Antes de la flor (‘before the flor’) is another milestone for the Equipo. Put simply, it’s an old vine, single-vineyard and single vintage Palomino, vinified in the classic white wine style. There was no biological aging. Another difference from previous Florpower releases is that No.99 was fermented and raised in stainless steel, not in cask. AAlong with the Navazos-Niepoort bottling, La Bota de Florpower is Navazos’ second single-vineyard, unfortified white wine and is inspired by a period in Andalucían wine history before fortification was the norm. While the Navazos-Niepoort is sourced from Jerez’s de-facto Grand Cru vineyard, Macharnudo Alto, this wine comes from Sanlúcar’s own blue-ribbon (and most revered) terroir, the Pago Miraflores. As opposed to the power and structure of Macharnudo in Jerez, here the tosca cerrada albariza soils give more roundness and floral charm to the wines, along with plenty of the oyster shell/iodine salinity that we expect of the finest Sanlúcar wines. At just 11.5% alc, this energetic, sapid and chalky textured wine was born to pair with food. “Smells salty and just very slightly yeasty, even without the flor influence – or maybe these are a consortium of aromas I associate with Manzanilla when in fact they are the aromas of wine made from this vineyard? Dried wild flowers and hay, too. Pungent but with an aroma I find impossible to describe. There is a very strong mineral quality but I am not sure where mineral starts and salty ends. Salty in the mouth too, powerful flavour with intensity but almost no weight in the mouth thanks to the very low alcohol. Salty, sour, mineral, with citrus at the very end.” 17/20 points, Jancisrobinson.com
La Bota 43 Brandy de Jerez 500ml. This stunning spirit is the follow-up bottling to No 29, the second of three barrels to be bottled two years apart. Like its predecessor, this has to be tasted to be believed. So floral, so pure, so complex and so intense. A spirit that will amaze (and trouble!) even the finest Cognac producers. Compared to its sibling La Bota de Brandy number 29, edition number 43 is an two years older in terms of age and finesse, which is why in a side-by-side comparison, this is more harmonious and less marked by fruit presence. If tasted however, next to the best Brandies de Jerez of other producers, both 29 and 43 share a remarkable degree of finesse and sophistication as opposed to a tradition that has enhanced sweetness and intensity. This edition is from a single cask and the totality of the butt has been bottled, so that each of the 500 ml bottles is indeed a jewel of limited production and availability, and strictly unrepeatable.
La Bota 64 Brandy de Jerez
“Bota NO” Only 800 bottles filled. This Brandy de Jerez came from a selection of the finest spirits or ‘holandas’ that Equipo Navazos unearthed in a bodega in Jerez. The spirit was double-distilled in the French style to 72% alc. Almost 20-years-old, it spent the first 12 years in new Limousin oak butts and the remaining six or seven in former Oloroso butts. One of the butts was then selected and bottled by hand in its entirety. Non-chill-filtered, it has—like all other bottlings from Equipo Navazos—no added aromatics, sweeteners or colourants. In fact, it has no additives at all. A super-fine Brandy of tremendous finesse and style: expect notes of apricot, candied orange and vanilla bean and a perfectly integrated spirit of the highest order. Sheer class.
La Bota 65 Ron
La Bota 87 Gin
“Bota NO”
“Bota NO”
Only 800 bottles filled. This Rum was bottled from the same set of casks that gave birth to Equipo Navazos’ collaboration with New York spirits guru, Nicolas Palazzi. Distilled in the Antilles and aged on-site in first fill Bourbon casks for a little over five years, this Rum was then shipped to Jerez where it was transferred to freshly-emptied Oloroso casks, where it rested until bottling.
Single Cask. 42.5% alc. Distilled in 2014, the spirit’s origin is London Dry Gin style, infused with a range of citrus-led botanicals (lemon peel and sweet and bitter orange peels) alongside a core trio of juniper, angelica and coriander. Nothing so exceptional there, but then the spirit was aged for almost five years in Jerez de la Frontera, in a single, old Sherry butt previously used for maturing Fino from Jerez.
Now between 15 and 20 year old, this single cask bottling is a genuinely exceptional aged Rum and unlike anything that’s currently on the market. Expect a spirit of tremendous finesse, (not the rusticity that we have now been conditioned to expect from the Rum category), with a bright, silky palate offering waves of dried stone fruits, candied citrus, subtle resin and lifted floral notes. The finish is as fine as could be, with almost invisible spirit and a vibrantly fresh close.
Bottled at cask strength, this is simply a magnificent white spirit for sipping neat. The outcome is not only a wonderfully mellow symphony of floral aromas and sweet candied tangerine, green melon and daisy-like aromas and flavours, it also possesses a supple, delicate, textured and driven palate that hints at Manzanilla Pasada as much it does to Gin. This comes through on the iodine-noted finish. In short, forget what you know about Gin, or even cask-aged Gin. The balance is superb with both the sweeter notes and saline, savoury elements working to make it very difficult to stop nosing and sipping.
La Bota 88 Malt Whisky
La Bota 88 Grain Whisky
“Overseas”
“Bota NO”
46% alc. Single Oloroso cask. A Scottish Malt aged in Jerez! This is sourced solely from what Navazos refer to as a “prestigious distillery in Scotland” (hence the “overseas”)—we don’t know the exact distillery and perhaps never will. Its age is estimated at around 12 years, of which the past seven—as per the 89 Grain Whisky—have been spent in a single cask from a solera of very old, dry Oloroso Sherry.
46% alc. Single Oloroso cask. “Bota NO” means that this is an exceptional cask should not be blended. This comes from the sister cask to the extraordinary La Bota 66 de Malt Whisky that we shipped a few years ago. In this case the new make is a grain Whisky, grown and pot-distilled in Castilla la Vieja in Northern Spain. Its age is estimated at around 14 years, of which the past seven have been spent in a single solera cask that previously stored a very old, dry Oloroso.
It’s a Whisky of remarkable character and complexity. It boasts an enticing peaty touch to the nose (which may give some a clue as to its origin) which balances beautifully with the intense influence of the old Sherry cask. Fragrant and soft with poached pear, roasted malt and a hint of coffee bean and crème brûlée. The palate is sweet, intense and softly fruited, with florals, butterscotch and plenty of peaty smokiness—like Balvenie meets Islay. It’s got some power—even at 46% it’s happy with a touch of water—yet remains stunningly balanced. Finishes with notes of wild honey and, again, that delicious twang of iodine. La Bota de Magic.
This is a magnificent and super-fine spirit with tobacco and roasted grain notes and a gently smoky, peaty edge. Then there’s a lovely, honeyed sweetness, which lends the spirit an almost Bourbon-like quality without the overt vanillin. The spicy, saline and fully integrated close is as smooth as a baby’s bottom. Another incredibly intense yet classy spirit—unrepeatable, of course, as it’s a single cask release.