2021 Equipo Navazos, Palomino Fino “Ovni” Blanco Seco, Sanlucar de Barrameda, Spain.
The unique Ovni Palomino Blanco Seco is a non fortified dry sherry style wine, reclaimed from a old version that was lost back in the 1930s, with no Flor during fermentation, that shows off a bight citrus, zesty and peachy lighter framed palate that is lightly oxidized, but still juicy fresh and great with Tapas and or briny sea foods. Equipo Navazos, one of the most exciting and adventurous wineries in southern Spain, is most known for their small lot and single barrel Sherry offerings, which are some of my absolute favorites, especially their speciality bottlings of aged creamy/nutty Palo Cortado and the crisply dry, but lightly oily En Rama. That said Equipo Navazos does some other non mainstream, non Sherry still wines, like this one, plus a collaboration sparkling project, which keeps some attention on this sleepy region that often gets overlooked by the wine world. This Palomino Fino, coming from very old vines, just minutes from the Atlantic Ocean in the Jerez area of Miraflores la Baja, Sanlucar de Barrameda, and set on the white chalky Albariza soils, is fermented and aged like a base for Fino Sherry in exclusively stainless steel tanks, again without the classic Flor yeasts developing and without being fortified with spirit. The dark golden hue and salty zing, remind you of a crisp nutty Fino Sherry, but there’s a freshness too that makes it more appealing to non Sherry drinkers, with hints of pecan, iodine, green apple, clove spice, wet saline infused stones, delicate florals and a touch of orange. Equipo Navazos has a full collection of Sherry wines from Fino Seco to luxuriously and exotic sweet Pedro Ximenez, with top notch fortified and Flor yeast aged selections of Manzanilla, including the textural version known as En Rama and richer, nuttier and longer aged Amontillado, all of which I highly recommend.
Equipo Navazos, as I’ve mentioned in my prior reviews, is almost single handedly making Sherry great again, they are sourcing and putting out some absolutely amazing bottings, if it ever was a time to re-discover this region and explore the many different style, it’s now! According to Sherry Notes, the Equipo Navazos started as a group of Spanish sherry lovers led by wine writer Jesús Barquín, a professor of criminology and Andalusian wine expert/ writer, and Eduardo Ojeda, the technical director of Grupo Estévez. It all began In 2005 when this private group found 65 butts of exceptionally fine 20+ year old Amontillado hidden away in the bodega Sánchez Ayala in Sanlúcar, they just knew they had to share their good fortune. They realized that it was a shame that so many brilliant sherry butts were lying around in large Sherry bodegas, often with low volumes that were commercially not interesting to be bottled separately, but too good to be part of a large-scale solera blend, and that is how they discovered their mission. Together with 30 or so friends and professionals, they selected one cask, bottled it and split the bottles titled La Bota de Amontillado / Navazos n°1, then later on it became their business and passion to share the love to the world and find Sherry enthusiasts that would rejoice in being able to get ultra small lot special Sherry that showed unique characteristics with exceptional quality. Again as noted before, Equipo Navazos is now a world class firm with a cult like following, and while staying true to their core mission of finding and releasing single Bota(s) they have also pushed the envelope of Sherry, putting out a dry white and doing a Sherry infused Cava Sparkling just to name a few intriguing extras. While discovering Sherry, a Spanish region just north of Cadiz in Andalucia and part of the Jerez de la Frontera, can be rather daunting for the novice, Equipo Navazos is providing a stylish gateway into this world of wine weirdness.
($24 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive