La Bota 40 de Manzanilla Pasada “Bota Punta”

Saca of September, 2012
DO Manzanilla Sanlúcar de Barrameda
16.2% alc. – 50cl
Hijos de Rainera Pérez Marín
Sanlúcar de Barrameda
Production: 1,000 bottles

40p

When La Bota de Manzanilla Pasada 30 “Capataz Rivas” was bottled, two of the 1/15 solera butts were showing such magnificent character that we decided to keep them apart in order to bottle them separately. Only a small part of them had been withdrawn for our release no. 30—only what was strictly necessary to refresh their contents and keep their immense complexity and concentration.

One of those two butts was of course our now familiar “Bota Punta” which already excelled in release number 20 of the “La Bota” series, and which is also the one from where this La Bota de Manzanilla Pasada 40 “Bota Punta” is sourced. This is a very special wine that takes the astonishing quality of the previous releases of this wine (editions 10, 20, 30 and now 39 and 40) to unimaginable levels of complexity.

What makes this wine truly unique and gifted with unmatched biological character (intense and steely salty notes on the palate) is that the butts are filled up to “a tocadedos” level—well above the 5/6 mark that is common in the Sherry district. In this fashion, the layer of yeast/flor inside these butts (much weakened by the age and lack of nutrients of the wine) is significantly smaller and thinner and can be kept alive on the sole basis of scarce periodic refreshments—acting as barely sufficient barrier between the wine and the intensely oxidizing effect of air. On the other hand, its very weakness implies that this protective effect is only a mild one, which is evidenced in the elegant oxidative notes of this manzanilla as well as the rising level of alcohol, climbing above 16%.

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