International #SherryWeek with González Byass

November 4th through the 11th has been designated International #SherryWeek by Consejo Regulador de las Denominaciones de Origen "Jerez-Xérès-Sherry" or in short, Vinos de Jerez.  We generally skip these marketing campaigns but for Sherry, expect a steady stream of posts here and on social media all week. Let's start with González Byass, perhaps the most popular sherry producer through their Tio Pepe winery in Jerez and two of their sherries.

Vina AB Amontillado ($24.99)
This wine starts with a Tio Pepe base after the standard four years in the Tio Pepe solera system. This means that it consists of 100% Palomino Fino grapes that have fermented and aged in a process that allows for the development of flor -- a unique layer of yeast produced naturally in Jerez. This layer protects the wine from oxygen and after four years of age, provides the wine with its unique aroma and character. After four years, the wine is then transferred to the Vina AB Solera where it remains for an additional eight years which extracts elements from the American Oak such as caramel and vanilla. The wine also features the essence of dried fruits and nuts while staying relatively dry.

The Vina AB Amontillado can be consumed by itself yet for Halloween, we found that a Butterfinger pairs nicely, with the peanuts complementing the dried fruits and nuts.  However, this wine's best usage is an ingredient in cocktails with many offered by a quick search online. It appears the Gin is the most popular companion with my favorite becoming a version of the Tuxedo.  The base is 1.5 ounces of London dry gin and 1 oz of Vina AB, then .5 oz of Lusardo Maraschino, three dashes of orange bitters, and one dash of absinthe.  Not having any Lusardo or absinthe on hand I replaced these with Monarch Bitters - using Pistachio Cherry Syrup and Cayenne Ginger bitters.  A rather delicious cocktail.


Noé VORS Pedro Ximenez ($49.99)
Dessert in a bottle. The PX grapes were fermented and fortified in the Nectar Solera system where the grapes were fermented to 7% and then fortified to 15%. After eight years of aging, the wine enters the Noé Solera system for 30 years. This results in a complex and textured wine, sweet figs and lifting acidity. If you care to pair with candy, try a Twizzlers - but this is a fantastic wine solo.



Disclosure: We received samples from González Byass in order to share our opinion about their products, but this isn’t a sponsored post.

Nomad Outland Whisky - Distilled in Speyside, Aged in Jerez

We continue our series focusing on our trip to Tio Pepe and González Byass in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain with the Nomad Outland Whisky ($49.99). This spirit is a collaboration between the González Byass Sherry Master Blender Antonio Flores and Whyte & Mackay’s Master Blender Richard Patterson.

The spirit starts in the Scottish Highlands as a unique blend of over 30 different malt and grain whiskies from Speyside -- each 5 to 8 years old.  Typically, Speyside whiskies can be classified into two groups: light and grassy or rich and sweet. Since the resulting blend destined for Nomad is aged three years in sherry casks, the base starts rich and sweet.

After these three years of aging, the spirit is transferred to Jerez where it spends a mínimum of 12 months in old Pedro Ximenez casks. The collaborators initially had tested this finishing in various used sherry casks including Fino and Oloroso barrels but determined the complex and textured residual from Pedro Ximenez works best.  During these 12 months, the Nomad also absorbs some native yeast providing a little funk as well as the finishing due to Jerez's unique micro-climate -- subject to changes in temperature, winds, and humidity.

This is a beautiful whisky with multiple layers of vanilla, molasses, nuts, and dried apricots with some mango and honey. Yes, multiple layers of flavor.

Disclosure: We received samples from González Byass in order to share our opinion about their products, but this isn’t a sponsored post.

A Family Visit to Gonzalez Byass for Tio Pepe

Regular readers of the WineCompass Blog will recognize the abundant number of posts regarding González Byass, the Jerez producers of Tio Pepe - a fino style of Sherry that the winery has created and exported since its founding in 1844. The winery is still owned and operated by the relatives of founder Manuel Maria González and over time has incorporated other wine brands representing diverse Spanish wine regions. But sherry is still their core product with over a dozen labels joining the famed uncle Jose Angel (Tio Pepe).

During a family trip to Seville, mutual contacts were able to schedule a private tour and tasting of the facility - still located within Jerez de la Frontera and an hour and change train ride away. The actual production is now conducted outside the city center, but the original Tio Pepe winery operated largely in the center adjacent to the Cathedral and Alcazar. This facility now hosts a tasting and event center, administrative offices, distillery, and barrelhouse. Lots of barrels stacked together based on several solera systems. Stone streets are covered by grape canopies creating a semblance of Tio Pepe as a town upon itself.

The staff was very gracious, taking time to accommodate our visit and providing a thorough and educational journey through ten sherry wines. Melanie, our tour guide, explained the history, topography, winemaking, and aging process while Neil provided an in-depth dissertation on each sherry and its origin. Their talents made the visit enjoyable and eye-opening to each of us - the wine geek, skeptic, and roguish and inappropriate teenager. Cheers to Tio Pepe, González Byass, their staff, and everyone who made the trip possible.

The Background
Even though the Jerez Regulatory Council stipulates that 60% of the grapes must come from Jerez Superior in order to be labeled Jerez Sherry, González Byass uses 100% grapes cultivated in the declared Jerez Superior area. The vineyards in Jerez are composed of a white soil called Albariza that consists of 60% chalk - which retains moisture that is critical during the region's long hot and dry summers.

Tio Pepe Flor

The grapes are Palomino and Pedro Ximenez (PX) and they are handled quite differently. The Palomino grapes are generally hand-harvested then sent directly to the press. On the other hand, the PX grapes are harvested later in the season and then sundried in a process called "soleo". The bunches are laid out on straw mats for up to two weeks where 40-50% of their volume evaporates. This is a labor-intensive process since the grapes must be covered in plastic at night, then uncovered and flipped each morning as a precaution from the morning dew. However, the reward is grapes with highly concentrated sugars -- ideal for the winery's sweet sherries.

All sherries are aged following the traditional Solera system where the wines are blended in 600-litre American oak casks and then moved through the system as wine is taken from the bottom casks. Many styles are produced with distinctive characters depending on whether they have been aged under the influence of the flor (a layer of natural yeast) or as an oloroso (in contact with oxygen). Here are the wines we tasted.



Tio Pepe Fino Palomino (15% abv)
This Fino (dry) style sherry is based on the free run and light first press of Palomino in order to obtain the juice most capable of creating an elegant wine. After the wine is fermented to 11-12% abv it is fortified to 15.5% abv and stored in American oak casks, leaving the top 100 liters empty. This allows the development of the flor, a unique layer of yeast produced naturally in Jerez. This layer protects the wine from oxygen and after four years of age, provides the wine with its unique aroma and character. This aroma actually resembles muscadine, whereas the core is green apples and almonds.

Viña AB Amontillado Palomino (16.5% abv)
The wine starts with a Tio Pepe base after the standard four years in the Tio Pepe solera system. The wine is then transferred to the Vina AB Solera where it remains for an additional eight years - basically a 12 year Tio Pepe. This longer aging extracts elements from the American Oak such as caramel and vanilla. The wine also features the essence of dried fruits and nuts while staying relatively dry.

Del Duque Amontillado VORS Palomino (21.5% abv)
This wine follows a similar process by taking 10-year-old wine from the Amontillado Viña AB Solera and transferring it to the Del Duque Solera where it is aged an additional 20 years making this a VORS = or very old sherry. The 30 years has condensed the wine, increased the abv, and expanded the mouthfeel and oak elements. An excellent sherry.

Alfonso Oloroso Palomino (18% abv)
The must for this wine comes from the second press which normally provides more structure and tannins (seeds, skins, and stems). After the wine is fermented to 11-12% abv, it is fortified to 18% and like the Tio Pepe housed in American Oak with an empty top layer of 100 liters. However, the flor does not develop because the yeast can not survive past 16% abv. The wine undergoes complete oxidization while extracting elements from eight years in the barrel. Complex and spicy, nuts and vanilla.

Leonor Palo Cortado Palomino (20% abv)
The wine is created like the Alfonso except it is made from the highest quality free-run juice (like the Tio Pepe) and spends 12 years in the Leonor Solera system. This is a unique, new style with a nutty aroma leading to a toasted cream palate.

Apóstoles VORS Medium Palomino/PX (20% abv)
This is an 87-13 blend where the Palomino comes from the Leonor Solera system. The PX grapes are firmly pressed (think of olive oil production) and the must ferments to 7% abv. After fortification to 15% abv, the wine enters the Pedro Ximenez Solera system where it ages for 12 years like the Leonor Solera. The wine is then blended and added to the Apostoles Solera where it ages an additional 18 years. The wine has a tremendous mouthfeel with dried fruits and caramel.

Solera 1847 Cream Palomino/PX (18% abv)
This 75-25 blend is derived from the first press of the continuous Palomino press in order to obtain a little more structure and tannic body. Following fermentation to 11-12%, the wine is fortified to 18% and enters the Oloroso Solera where complete oxidization occurs because of the empty 100 liters. The Pedro Ximenez wine comes from the Pedro Ximenez Solera system. Both wines are pulled from their respective solera systems after four years are blended and then aged an additional four years together in the 1847 Solera system. The wine picks up more fig and dried fruit characters with some caramel and vanilla - simply delicious.

Matusalem VORS Cream Palomino/PX (20.5% abv)
The Palomino and Pedro Ximenez wine in this blend comes from the Olorosa Solera and Pedro Ximenez Solera systems described above. However,  the wines remain in their respective solera systems for 15 years before being pulled, blended, and aged an additional 15 years in the Matusalem Solera system. The wine comes across drier than the Solera 1847 with a bittersweet flavor of spices, raisins, and dried fruit.

Nectar Pedro Ximenez (15% abv)
The sherry comes from the Nectar Solera system where the PX grapes were fermented to 7% and then fortified to 15%. After eight years of aging, this wine is full of fig flavors with enough acidity to help balance the sweetness. A family favorite.

Noé VORS Pedro Ximenez (15.5% abv)
For this sherry, the PX grapes were fermented and fortified as the Nectar, but the must enters the Noé Solera system for 30 years. This results in a complex and textured wine, sweet figs but nice acidity.

Ron Zacapa 23 - From Cane to Solera to Bottle

We've been fans of the Ron Zacapa 23 Rum for quite some time. And why not. It's nutty aroma, sweet honey flavors, creamy texture, and smooth, long finish - never a burn - should satisfy anyone. We've known that they utilize the first press of sugar cane (virgin sugar cane honey) and that the rum is aged in "The House Above the Clouds"  7,500ft above sea level in eastern Guatemala. Yet, we never really understood their unique Sistema Solera process - modeled after sherry production - and it's contribution to this excellent rum. That is, until now, when the Zacapa distillery sent us a tasting kit, with vials containing rum samples from each stage of the Solera process, plus the final Ron Zacapa 23 blend. What a tasting opportunity.

Before tasting, let's start with their distilling process. As previously mentioned, the rum starts from sugar cane and not molasses. Zacapa's sugar cane is harvested from their plantation "located on the volcanic plains of Retalhuleu, 1,148ft above sea level in south-western Guatemala". The sugar cane is then pressed, and the first press is then fermented using their own strain of yeast extracted from pineapples. The fermented juice is then distilled using a single column copper still. 

Tasting vials from stages in the Solera process

After distillation, the freshly distilled spirit is transported to "The House Above the Clouds" and the Sistema Solera process begins. This process involves several stages or "criadera" - Spanish for nursery. In the first stage or criadera, freshly distilled juice is aged and then blended with juice that has previously aged within the same level as well as a stock from the general reserve. This intermediate blend then moves to the next stage, aged in different barrels and then blended with older lots, and then sent to the next criadera. The process repeats until the final blend is realized and this becomes the Solera - in our case - the Ron Zacapa 23.

The Zacapa Solera process uses four criadera and the tasting kit includes samples from three of these, as well as the finished solera.  (See the image below for more detail.)  The attached video also describes the contents of the tasting kit, and whereas my tasting was less formal, I gained a greater appreciation how each step in the Solera process contributes to the overall complexity of Ron Zacapa 23. In Stage 1, the distilled sugar cane is aged in used American white oak Bourbon barrels for one to three years. The rum is then moved to the  4,500 gallon American Oak intermediate vat where it is blended with older lots. This mixture is then aged in charred Bourbon barrels, resulting in more oak flavors imparted into the spirit. This rum sample is reminiscent of a solid, slightly aged rum, with sugar cane aromas, sweet honey flavors and a slight burn at the tail. I could drink this version, at any time, with no second thoughts.

The Zacapa Solera Process

In Stage 2, the intermediate blend vat is again augmented with rum from the reserve and then aged in used Sherry barrels. Surprisingly, the rum from this sample was toxic to my palette. The aroma from this sample was powerful - full of nuts and honey - but the burn was just as strong - overwhelming the new flavors imparted from the sherry casks.

The sherry infused rum is added back to the vat,  augmented by the reserve, and then sent to the fourth criadera or Stage 3 and aged in used Pedro Ximenez (PX) wine barrels. PX is a white Spanish grape used in sherry and sweet dessert wines.  This sample was much more palatable than the last, exuding a similar nutty aroma but with a fig and banana-ish flavor and milder, albeit, still strong finish. Close, but not quite the same as the finished solera. It was also very 2-dimensional, running straight from the mouth to the tail, without much of the creamy mid-palette I associate with Zacapa 23.   

This blend is then added back to the gigantic intermediate vat and then blended into the older lots in the reserve. Some of the rum is used to augment future processes whereas some are filtered and bottled into the distinctive Ron Zacapa 23 bottles. This last sample - Stage 4 - was the final product that I've come to love about this rum - the honey and nutty aromas mingle with the sweet honey, fig, and raisin flavors; followed by a satiating and creamy mid-palette; and ending with a long fresh finish - with zero - I mean zero -  burn. Love it.  The distillers at Ron Zacapa have patented this process into a science or art, because I was unable to capture this profile using my own blends of the three vials.So there you have it -  Ron Zacapa 23 - From Cane to Solera to Bottle. Cheers