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Since the second half of the sixteenth century, Baiona has been a meeting point of wines from Jerez and Galicia, as attested by the charters of its port. Five centuries later, Pazos de Lusco and Bodegas Tío Pepe have recalled this historic event with a tasting that has united Galicia and Andalusia at the side of a replica of Carabela Pinta, moored at the port of Baiona. Two lands that have contemplated, for hundreds of years, how their wines have travelled the seas and left an impression all over the world.
Sergio Alén and Antonio Flores, winemakers from Adega Pazos de Lusco and Bodegas Tío Pepe, respectively, introduced the essence of the terroirs of two of the most representative winegrowing areas of these regions: Rías Baixas and Jerez.
The Galician winemaker started his tour with the Pazos de Lusco albariño wines (Designation of Origin Rías Baixas), which follow artisanal making techniques and use native yeasts for their fermentation. He took his first stop at Lusco 2017 "en Rama", an Albariño at its purest that reflects the full potential of this variety. Then, he guided his guests through Lusco 2017, a singular white wine with 5 months of aging on its fine lees, a remarkable straw yellow colour and lively floral notes on the palate. The circle was closed by Pazo Piñeiro 2016, a wine icon that rests on its fine lees for 5 months in tanks and then 9 months in French oak barrels. The result of this careful making is a pale cheerful wine, with rich varietal aromas, great persistence and very ample in the mouth.
After the journey through the Rías Baixas terroirs, Antonio Flores, the nose of Bodegas Tío Pepe, took the floor. With passion and poetry, the winemaker conveyed the spirit of Jerez to Galician Baiona by presenting Tío Pepe en Rama 2018, a wine gem of very limited production that incarnates the very best of biological aging. The Jerez-born top winemaker then introduced Viña AB, a complex, elegant, versatile Amontillado that ages for 12 years in American oak barrels. Nectar PX was the final touch to the tasting event: an intense ebony-hued dessert wine, with aromas of raisins, figs and dates, remarkably lingering and tasty on the palate.
