2018 Equipo Navazos Niepoort Blanco

Everything indicates that the origins of Andalusia's biological aging go back to the second half of the eighteenth century, halfway between Sanlúcar (which supplies the wines) and Cádiz (which supplies the market and commercial channels and also the beneficial effects of the flor were shown to valued first.

Everything also indicates that in those days the practice of fortification was not very common in the white wines intended for local consumption. We get that from the 1801 article by Agustín Fernández on "Vineyards and Winemaking Practices in San Lucar de Barrameda" published in issue 213 of that admirable source of information that was the Semanario de Agricultura y Artes dirigido a los Párrocos. After declaring that the best grapes were the "listanes" (palomino fino) and the best vineyards those of "tierras blancas" (albariza soils), he continued as follows:
“ If the grapes are of top quality, we don't need anything anymore; it is true that some add some refined alcohol to stabilize them, but they risk that the wines become coarse.... "

Parameters to get a top quality unfortified PX or Palomino dry white wine are: a) the palomino fino or PX variety, b) sourced from the best vineyards, c) fermented using indigenous yeasts, e) aged under the layer flor that is formed immediately after the fermentation yeasts have done their job, f) no added alcohol. This wine used to be known as "vino de manzanilla", locally known as "vino blanco" ("white wine").

The Equipo Navazos Niepoort is an unfortified white wine, which with vintage 2018 is the ninth vintage of Navazos Niepoort, produced by Equipo Navazos according to the exact same strict quality criteria applied and made as was done by the best winemakers of the Bajo Guadalquivir over 200 years ago: palomino fino must from a historic Albariza vineyard, fermented with native yeasts that impregnate the vines and the fermentation vats themselves, aged for 12 months under a low flor thanks to the action of native yeasts that immediately take control after fermentation, and of course with not a single drop of added alcohol.

Incidentally, the idea of releasing an unfortified sherry is not from Equipo Navazos itself, but from another wine great: Dirk van der Niepoort. He came to Andalusia to make the first edition of the Navazos Niepoort in 2008. A wine made according to the classical method - in large, not quite full barrels, so that the flor has the chance to grow - but without adding alcohol. The idea that an alcohol percentage of 15% is necessary for the flor to thrive is rejected by Jesús as nonsensical. Old books show that the fortification of the wine was only applied much later. The Equipo Navazos Niepoort Blanco is therefore a Vino Blanco from Jerez and not sherry, made from Palimino grape.

The wine is expressive and open penetrating hints with muscle and power. The taste is very tasty, with a chalky minerality and a long finish. The Navazos Niepoort is a wine with character, lively, fresh and mineral, with the pure expression of the calcareous soil. Full body, but not heavy, dry, but not aggressive. You keep tasting the saltiness. A great gourmet wine!

It is best enjoyed chilled at around 6-8 degrees, with any type of lightly cooked fish and seafood, as well as lighter rice and pasta dishes and delicately flavored salads. From the calcareous soils to the glass, after a period under flor. Never before, in recent times, have tradition and future been embraced so authentically as in this Andalusian wine. Flor-aged white wines are rightly on the rise these days. The wines are extremely elegant, fresh and dry. This wine begs for seafood such as a Dutch mussel pan, but also delicious with a real Bellota Iberico ham (jamon)