Williams Finolis en Rama 2016

Williams & Humbert are a long standing Jerez house, and this comes from Palomino grown on the chalky albariza soils of Andalusia, the pale, moisture holding earth that defines the region's finest whites. The wine is aged for forty eight months under a veil of flor, the living film of yeast that forms on the surface in the cask. Flor consumes oxygen and alcohol and protects the wine from browning, while giving off compounds that create the yeasty, saline, almond character of biologically aged whites. It is bottled en rama, drawn straight from the cask with minimal filtration, so it keeps the full texture and pungency of that ageing. The colour is pale straw gold. The nose is savoury and yeasty, with almond, sea salt and green apple over fresh dough and chamomile. The palate is bone dry, taut and saline, the flor character running through a light, cutting body to a bracing, faintly bitter almond finish. Serve well chilled at 8 to 10 degrees in a white wine glass.