On one of my recent trips to Jerez we went to Bodegas Fernando de Castilla. Over the years, the owner Jan Pettersen has become a good friend of mine; his sherries are some of the best that can be found anywhere. Well, he kindly gave me a bottle of a new product that he has launched, an “en rama” fino. I have talked about these kinds of finos in earlier postings. They are finos that have been bottled directly from the cask with if anything just a light filtering.
The nose on the fino is more intense than most with notes of almonds, baked apples and yeast. On the palate it is quite austere and has a very tangy and bitter finish of great intensity with all the aromas of the nose coming back with added notes of dried herbs. This is a very serious fino which cries out for food to accompany it. Having just bought an organic acorn-fed Iberian front leg or “paleta” a plate of this was the perfect match to go with the fino for myself and my wife.
