Canasta Cream

Canasta Cream is made by Bodegas Williams & Humbert, a Jerez house founded in 1877 by Alexander Williams and Arthur Humbert and central to the creation of the Denomination of Origin. The winery sits within the sherry triangle between Jerez, El Puerto de Santa María and Sanlúcar, on the albariza chalk soils that give Palomino its saline freshness. The wine blends dry oxidative Oloroso from Palomino with sweet Pedro Ximénez, whose grapes are dried in the sun to concentrate their sugars before pressing. Both base wines are fortified above the level at which flor can survive, so the blend ages oxidatively for six years, in direct contact with air through the cask. That exposure converts alcohol to acetaldehyde, deepens the colour to chestnut and builds the wine's smooth, rounded texture. The nose is a burst of dried fruit and toasted nuts wrapped in a subtle veil of blond tobacco and oak, the palate sweet but balanced by an oxidative bitterness on the finish. Serve lightly chilled at around 13 degrees in a tulip glass, with dried fruit, fruit cake or dark chocolate.