Navazos Niepoort 2015

Jerez de la Frontera. This is not a fortified wine! Beginning in 2008, Equipo Navazos 'Set out to craft an unfortified white wine following the same rigorous quality criteria employed by the best winemakers of the Bajo Guadalquivir some two centuries ago. To this end, they requested and received guidance from Portugal's Dirk Niepoort. This pioneering project--which continues to go from strength to strength--is now in its seventh vintage, and the current 2015 release is a thing of beauty. The wine came entirely from a parcel of 30-year-old Palomino grapes harvested from Jerez's great pago (single site), Macharnudo Alto. The wine was naturally fermented in 40-year-old bota (filled 5/6 of its capacity) and matured for some 11 months under a veil of flor before being bottled unfortified. The 2015 had a little more time in vat than previous releases and the result is a wonderfully mineral, pure and translucent white - most likely the finest, and most precise Navazos-Niepoort we have seen. As such, it offers brilliant value.'

- Bibendum 

"The latest vintage of the unfortified, flor-aged white from Jerez (aka Fino) is the 2015 Navazos-Niepoort. This is a collaboration with Portugal's Dirk Niepoort that started in 2008 and sparked interest for this style. It's produced with grapes from one single vineyard (Pago Macharnudo) from a normal year in the region, fermented in oak casks like yesteryear, aged under flor for 11 months and bottled bone dry at 12% alcohol. It's expressive and open and has certainly overcome the closed cycle it usually goes into after bottling, even with some pungent hints, getting a little closer to Florpower but with muscle and power. The palate is very tasty, with chalky minerality and a long finish." 92 points, Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate #234