La Inglesa Fino en Rama

La Inglesa takes its name from Luisa Rebeca de Ward, the Irish born woman who ran the Alvear family winery in the nineteenth century, and this Fino en Rama is bottled unfiltered so it shows the wine as it sits in cask. In Montilla-Moriles, Fino style wines are made from Pedro Ximénez rather than Palomino, and here the grapes grow on albero chalk soils under the hot inland Córdoba sun. Pedro Ximénez ripens to high sugar, so in Montilla these wines reach around 15 percent naturally and are often not fortified at all, then age under flor through the criaderas and soleras for five years. The flor yeast grows across the surface, protecting the wine from oxygen and feeding on alcohol while releasing acetaldehyde, which gives the sharp, saline and almond like character of biological ageing and keeps the colour pale. It pours pale gold, with delicate aromas of almond, fresh bread dough and a touch of citrus. The palate is exceptionally dry and light, clean and saline with a precise finish. Serve well chilled at around 7 to 9 degrees. It is a fine aperitif and a match for shellfish.