Álvaro Domecq Oloroso Alburejo

Álvaro Domecq is a Jerez house with deep roots in the Marco de Jerez, the bodega built on a wine-storage business inherited in the 1940s. This Oloroso Alburejo is made from Palomino on albariza soils and aged fifteen years in old Jerez butts. Oloroso is the oxidative style of sherry. The base wine is fortified to a higher strength, around 18 to 19%, which prevents flor from forming, so from the start the wine ages in contact with air. That slow oxidation over fifteen years in the solera deepens the colour, concentrates the wine through evaporation and builds layers of nut and dried fruit, while the wine itself remains completely dry since all the sugar fermented out. The colour is dark chestnut with amber undertones, clear and luminous. The nose is intense, led by walnut and roasted nuts with deeper notes of leather, tobacco and dried fig. The palate is full bodied, dry and powerful, with caramel, savoury umami depth and a long, warming finish. Serve at 14 to 16 degrees in a white-wine glass. It is a wine for roast meats and game rather than an aperitif.