UBE Carrascal Las Vegas 2020

Cota 45 is the project of Ramiro Ibáñez, who has done much to recover the still white wines that Jerez made before fortification took over. UBE Carrascal comes from the El Carrascal pago, one of the classic albariza sites of the Marco de Jerez. Albariza is a white chalky soil, high in limestone, that holds winter rain deep in the ground and reflects sunlight back into the canopy, keeping Listán Blanco fresh through a hot Andalusian summer. The wine is unfortified and ages under a natural veil of flor yeast. The flor consumes oxygen and glycerol and feeds acetaldehyde into the wine, which is where the almond, apple-skin and briny character comes from, without the wine ever becoming oxidative or heavy. The result is pale lemon in colour, with a nose of green apple, chamomile and saline chalk. The palate is dry and taut, with almond, dried herbs and a savoury salinity that runs through a long finish. Serve at 10 to 12 degrees in a white wine glass.