La Panesa Fino

Bodegas Emilio Hidalgo is one of the oldest houses in the Marco de Jerez, run today by the fifth generation from Clavel Street in the heart of Jerez de la Frontera, Cadiz. La Panesa Fino comes from a solera started in 1962, and although it is sold as a Fino it carries the age and depth of a far older wine. It is made from Palomino Fino grown on the albariza chalk soils that store winter rain and ripen the grapes through the dry summer. The wine ages biologically under a thick cap of flor yeast, which lives on the surface in the cask, feeding on alcohol and protecting the wine from oxygen. This long flor ageing keeps it dry and pale while developing the savoury, yeasty character that marks the style, and the many years in the solera give it unusual concentration and length. The nose is purely organic, with the yeast, almond and herbal notes typical of the flor veil. The palate is sharp and savoury, forceful yet smooth, with extremely long persistence. Serve chilled at around 8 to 10 degrees in a white wine glass, as an aperitif or with seafood and cured meats.