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Elegance and uniqueness define the new Finos Palmas 2016 Collection, one of the most awaited wine novelties of the year. After the summer came the sorting of the wines in the cellars, where Antonio Flores –the "nose of the House"– selected some casks from the González Byass old soleras in which the vigour of the flor natural yeast layer had provided fino wine with an intense character.
Intuition, wisdom, nose, time, chalk and the typical venencia –the small cylindrical steel at the end of a long shaft, used for pulling sherry samples from the barrels– are the protagonists of that ceaseless coming and going of the winemaker across the wineries. Only when the process is over can we discover some of the wines that, every year, dazzle the world. For this surprising and exciting experience, the Best Spanish Winemaker of the Year has been supported by Gerard Basset’s – Master of Wine and Master Sommelier– skill and sensitivity.
The two masters have tasted and selected –venencias in their hands– the best barrels from the Amontillado Fino solera, in which the yeast veil passes from its life’s splendour in Una and Dos Palmas to its decay and death in Three and Four Palmas. The result has been unbeatable: a complex, highly inspiring collection of Finos Palmas that perfectly reflects the ages of Tío Pepe.
Una Palma
Fino Una Palma –the evolution over time of a 6-year-old Tío Pepe– is the result of selecting three barrels from a total of 142, in which the flor yeast veil is a mantle of life.
Dos Palmas
8 years of contact with the flor that covers the entire surface of the wine. Fino Dos Palmas, a reflection of Tío Pepe 's elegant strength, is the result of selecting of two barrels out of 150.
Tres Palmas
Tres Palmas, a very old Tío Pepe, has taken biological aging to the limit. After 10 years of aging, only some casks have kept traces of a yeast that magically interacts with the wine. It comes from a single barrel selected among the 150 that make up the solera.
Cuatro Palmas
This Amontillado Viejísimo reflects Tío Pepe’s ability to evolve over time by concentrating only the best of its origins and thus offer a wine that proves the significance of selection and classification in the very cellars. A sublime and unrepeatable amontillado obtained from only one of the six barrels that have been ageing at González Byass for the last 51 years.
What are Palmas?
Palmas are designations that –as defined by Manuel María González-Gordon in his book "Jerez-Xérèz-Sherry"– are applied to those fino sherry wines particularly distinguished for cleanliness, fineness and delicacy in their aroma, the number of palms being proportional to their degree of aging.
They are the result of an arduous task –being carried out since 1880– of selecting and classifying the best fino wines.