El Maestro Sierra Oloroso 15 Años

El Maestro Sierra is a long-established Jerez bodega working in the traditional Marco de Jerez style. This Oloroso is a single-varietal Palomino grown on albariza chalk, aged oxidatively for fifteen years in a soleras and criaderas system. Because an Oloroso is fortified above the strength at which flor can survive, the wine ages in direct contact with air rather than under a yeast veil. Over fifteen years in American oak the slow loss of water through the cask concentrates the wine, deepening the colour to mahogany and building a concentrated, layered flavour as the alcohol and extract intensify. Despite its richness this is a fully dry wine. It pours deep mahogany, with an intense nose of dried fruit, walnut, leather and sweet spice. The palate is full, structured and dry, opulent in body yet savoury rather than sweet, with bitter orange, clove and tobacco over a long warming finish. The slow evaporation that builds the concentration also lifts the alcohol, so it is best taken in small measures. Serve at cool room temperature in a small glass, with hard cheese, roast game, mushroom dishes or roasted roots.