
BODEGAS VALDESPINO “Inocente” Single Vineyard Fino
(Jerez, Spain) $26
Of all Jerez’s finos, Inocente (ee-no-CENT-ay) is the most elegant and refined. The wine’s mossy, almondy, oceanic aroma draws you in; then the flavors emerge—waves of sea spray, minerals, crisp apples, and a powerful vivid nuttiness. The finish is unreal–cooling and ultra long. While most other finos are fermented in tank, Inocente—like the great finos of the past—is fermented in barrel with indigenous yeast. At bottling, the wine is around 10 years old—doubling or tripling the aging in solera of most other finos. Valdespino’s origins are thought to date to 1264, when the conquering knight Alonso Valdespino was rewarded with thirty hectares of land, including almost half of Macharnudo, one of Jerez’s greatest vineyard terroirs. Valdespino also makes one of the most phenomenally delicious, rich palo cortados in Jerez—a wine called Viejo C.P. with an average age in solera of 25 years. (15% abv)
98 points KM
Available at The Rare Wine Company