New Releases Equipo Navazos
Whilst there have obviously been some exciting and individual sherrys available, such as the Almacenista range from Lusteau, in general this is a wine that is known by its brand. Whether it be a Valdespino Fino, a Manzanilla from La Guita, or, a Tio Pepe from Gonzalez Byass , the consumer has stuck to their favoured brand, feeling assured that it will taste the same year after year, bottle after bottle. As such, these wines are of course the produce of a blend or ‘recipe’, where soleras are established to carry on the ‘family lines’. By contrast the wines of Equipo Navazos are one off, single bottlings from individually selected butts and soleras.
For those of you who are not familiar with the ‘story’, like so many good ideas, the Equipo Navazos range was developed more by accident than design. In December 2005 a group of friends, including Jesus Barquin, a director of the Andalusian Institute of Criminology at the University of Granada, and a renowned food and drink critic, along with Eduardo Ojeda, the technical director of Grupo Estevez, owners of Bodega Valdespino and the La Guita sherry brand were visiting a small, old bodega in Sanlucar and discovered a dozen butts of an exceptionally fine, old amontillado which had spent 20 years without running. They were so excited by the wine, that they selected the equivalent volume of a butt and bottled it privately to share amongst themselves and other sherry loving friends, many of whom were in the wine or restaurant trade. Feeling certain that there would be many other great old soleras, hidden away in the cellars of Jerez, Sanlucar, El Puerto and Montilla, they set about exploring and subsequently uncovered and bottled a further two selections in 2006, designed purely for their own pleasure. However, as the group had shared their precious bottles with other friends and restaurateurs, they rapidly created a demand for their wines and began supplying small quantities to various restaurants. With each new bottling, the reputation grew and they soon found themselves having to share their treasure with merchants and export markets.
As the enterprise has grown, the philosophy has remained the same however. Equipo Navazos continue to seek out soleras, or indeed single butts, which possess such an outstanding balance and finesse that they demand to be bottled individually as single solera bottlings or indeed, a Le Bota Punta. Of course, due to the rarity of each selection, the production will always be limited.
For those of you who are not familiar with the ‘story’, like so many good ideas, the Equipo Navazos range was developed more by accident than design. In December 2005 a group of friends, including Jesus Barquin, a director of the Andalusian Institute of Criminology at the University of Granada, and a renowned food and drink critic, along with Eduardo Ojeda, the technical director of Grupo Estevez, owners of Bodega Valdespino and the La Guita sherry brand were visiting a small, old bodega in Sanlucar and discovered a dozen butts of an exceptionally fine, old amontillado which had spent 20 years without running. They were so excited by the wine, that they selected the equivalent volume of a butt and bottled it privately to share amongst themselves and other sherry loving friends, many of whom were in the wine or restaurant trade. Feeling certain that there would be many other great old soleras, hidden away in the cellars of Jerez, Sanlucar, El Puerto and Montilla, they set about exploring and subsequently uncovered and bottled a further two selections in 2006, designed purely for their own pleasure. However, as the group had shared their precious bottles with other friends and restaurateurs, they rapidly created a demand for their wines and began supplying small quantities to various restaurants. With each new bottling, the reputation grew and they soon found themselves having to share their treasure with merchants and export markets.
As the enterprise has grown, the philosophy has remained the same however. Equipo Navazos continue to seek out soleras, or indeed single butts, which possess such an outstanding balance and finesse that they demand to be bottled individually as single solera bottlings or indeed, a Le Bota Punta. Of course, due to the rarity of each selection, the production will always be limited.
In stock - ready to ship
Saca de Marzo de 2011
Tasted July 2011
Clear Amber/ Gold in colour. Deep, warming aromas of delicately oxidised dried fruit with hints of citrus rind and nutty/ almond oak notes. Elegant and wonderfully balanced. With time a floral/ perfumed whisky-like note emerges as does a touch of salinity.
Dry on the palate and like the nose exquisitely balanced by a natural dried fruit sweetness. Stunning depth of citrus rind, Seville orange conserve and nutty oak. Superb intensity of delicate, coffee... [more details]
£94.15 per bottle
£516.86 for a case of 6
(£86.14 per bottle)
In stock - ready to ship
Those of you who have been following the wines of Equipo Navazos, will no doubt remember the fabulous Manzanilla Pasada, La Bota 10 and 20. This, no. 30 comes from the same 15 butt solera, which was started in 1986 by Rafael Rivas, who managed the La Guita cellars at Sanlúcar’s Calle Misericordia, until his recent retirement.
The solera was established for the purpose of producing an old Manzanilla of exceptional quality to boost the commercial ‘la Guita’, as and when required. However, as ... [more details]
£42.80 per bottle
£234.98 for a case of 6
(£39.16 per bottle)
In stock - ready to ship
Within the various cellars owned by La Guita, on the road to Jerez, outside Sanlucar de Barrameda, can be found several great Amontillado soleras. They have remained virtually undisturbed since La Guita moved their cellars here in 1980. The La Bota de Amontillado No. 31 was selected from the solera that the Equipo Navazos consider to be the most balanced and elegant wine. In fact they selected four butts, to fill approximate 1,700, 50 cl bottles.
This fabulous Amontillado portrays the distinc... [more details]
£56.46 per bottle
£309.94 for a case of 6
(£51.66 per bottle)
In stock - ready to ship
This fabulous Manzanilla is the produce of 20 butts selected by the Navazo team from the best-aged manzanilla solera at sanchez Ayala.
It has been bottled after an extremely light filtration, in order preserve its colour and personality. This is a very powerful wine with a wonderful saline complexity, fabulous freshness and harmoniously fine balance. It is the perfect partner to fish and shellfish, but versatile and refreshing enough to match much more complicated and stronger flavoured creat... [more details]
£29.85 per bottle
£163.88 for a case of 6
(£27.31 per bottle)
