VIÑA CORRALES, 2021 Bottling, Fino from Peter Sisseck

VIÑA CORR ALES 2021 BOTTLING

FINO FROM PETER SISSECK

EXCLUSIVE TO CORNEY & BARROW IN THE UK AND HONG KONG

VIÑA CORRALES

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2021 BOTTLING

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INDEPENDENT WINE MERCHANT SINCE 1780

SPAIN’S GREATEST WHITE WINE Until not so long ago, sherry was something your grandmother might serve you...

No longer. Sherry – and the pale coloured, bone dry Fino style in particular – has emerged as one of the wine world’s best kept secrets.

For Peter Sisseck, it is the Great White of Spain: “Tasting all over Spain, I never really fell in love with any of the white wine areas until one day it dawned on me that Fino is the single greatest white wine of Spain. The problem is that people never think about it as a white wine.”

He’s got a point, or two points – not only great, but a great white wine. Drink it chilled, from a proper wine glass. With similar alcohol to some modern white Burgundies and Rhônes, it is a salty thirst-quencher, ready once bottled.

Peter calls buying a bodega in Jerez “a dream come true.”

From a man who dreams big – and has already received the highest-ever score for a Fino from The Wine Advocate – this is so exciting. The revolution has come to Jerez. Que viva el fino!

GUY SEDDON August 2021

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JEREZ Andalucía’s Jerez de la Frontera, north-east of Cádiz, is the heartland of Fino.

Jerez, the anglicised version of which is sherry, is the name of both the city and the Denominación de Origen. The de la Frontera bit dates from the Middle Ages, when this was the frontier between Christian and Moorish Spain. Wine aside, Jerez is also the home of flamenco and a historic equestrian centre.

The fierce Andalucian summers are tempered by the nearby Atlantic ocean, 12km from the city of Jerez. This brand of lean, dry, pale-hued sherry is also made in the nearby Puerto de Santa Maria and Sanlúcar de Barrameda. Both sit on the coast, making light, airy Finos (known as Manzanilla in Sanlúcar), whilst inland Jerez makes slightly weightier and more substantial styles.

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INDEPENDENT WINE MERCHANT SINCE 1780

BODEGA SAN FR ANCISCO JAVIER The bodega was acquired in 2017 by Peter Sisseck and the Del Río family, owners of Hacienda Monasterio in Ribera del Duero.

The Del Rio family are part of the sherry behemoth Gonzalez-Byass, so there are strong, longstanding links with Jerez here.

The purchase included the impressive Camborio solera, of casks of maturing sherry of varying ages. The blend in the 2021 bottling has an average age of nine years.

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SINGLE-VINEYARD FINO In Jerez, the ageing process has historically been more important than the vineyard – an idea which Peter Sisseck is challenging.

Bodega San Francisco Javier has eight hectares in Pago Balbaína and a further two in Pago Macharnudo. These pagos, literally vineyards although more akin to villages in Burgundian terms, are two of the great terroirs of Jerez.

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Viña Corrales is Peter’s Fino from Pago Balbaína. At 92 metres of elevation, this is the highest area in Jerez and overlooks the sea. The vineyard is currently in the process of organic certification.

Soils are ‘tosca de barajuela’ albariza, a prized type of laminated limestone. Whilst average yields in the region are 10-15,000kg per hectare, Peter makes half that, at 6-7,000kg/ha.

In due course, there will be a second Fino, from the two hectares in Pago Macharnudo. This will be called Viña La Cruz.

Speaking of the possibilities for a renewed sense of place in Jerez, Peter invokes Jacques Selosse in Champagne: “We now all know that the greatest Champagnes are just as much ‘wines of origin’ as any other great wines of the world.”

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INDEPENDENT WINE MERCHANT SINCE 1780

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Peter’s first visit to Jerez was in 1993 and, as he describes it, “One of the things that hit me was that nobody made vineyard-designated Finos. For most of the wine world, origin is very important. Not so in Jerez, where volume was and is clearly prioritised.

The reason given was that the process [ageing under a layer of flor yeast] erases any sign of origin. For me that didn’t sound right – more of an excuse for producing large quantities of nondescript wine.”

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2021 BOTTLING

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INDEPENDENT WINE MERCHANT SINCE 1780

THE CELLAR Although the vineyards are afforded great prominence here, the cellar remains key to the production of sherry.

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Following harvest, Palomino Fino grapes are pressed gently and fermented to produce a dry white wine of 11-12% abv.

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The wine is fortified to around 15% abv, low enough for a film of flor yeast to form on the surface of the 600 litre barrels, with space left at the top to allow this to occur.

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The Fino is then aged in a six-level solera system of 318 barrels, in which the youngest wine is at the top and the lower levels are progressively older.

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Periodically, wines from higher barrels are moved down – a process of continual renewal. Crucially, this must be done without disturbing the flor in each barrel.

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The wine for bottling is taken from the lowest level. Each bottling is a saca (removal or extraction). 20 litres of wine are taken from a 600 litre barrel.

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The wine is bottled en rama – unfiltered, on its fine lees. Peter draws parallels with Champagne and top white Burgundy, which can derive richness and texture from their lees.

Peter is seeking, above all, a sense of vinosity, which he particularly admires in the famous Finos of the 1950s and ‘60s. A “sweet spot” between the complexity of long solera ageing and the freshness of youth. This drinkability is also reflected in his choice of a Burgundy shaped bottle and Diam cork.

The current bottling has an average age of nine years – any longer and the flor starts to die. Once this happens, oxidative ageing results in a richer, nuttier style, previously called a Fino Amontillado.

Of the ageing potential, Peter says, “They do gain complexity over the years but should not necessarily be laid down, as you would with Burgundy.”

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TASTING NOTE VIÑA CORRALES 2021 BOTTLING

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Bright lemon-gold colour. Striking salty aromas, with lime rind, candied orange, herbs and chalky minerality.

The palate is beautifully balanced between the saline flor flavours and straw, marzipan, cheese strings and rock salt – lean yet vibrant, wafting aromas around the mouth.

Fresh, with a tangy, bone dry, nimble finish. The empty glass is wonderfully aromatic. Bottled unfiltered, en rama.

This will drink immediately and will continue to develop over 2-3 years. Bottled June 2021, with Diam corks.

Corney & Barrow Score 18 Recommended drinking from 2021 – 2023 £146.90/CASE OF 6 BOTTLES, IN BOND UK £197.70/CASE OF 6 BOTTLES, inc. VAT

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INDEPENDENT WINE MERCHANT SINCE 1780

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CONTACT US Our Locations

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LONDON 1 Thomas More Street London E1W 1YZ T +44 (0)20 7265 2400 sales@corneyandbarrow.com

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