Valdespino Manzanilla Deliciosa 375ml

95 POINTS

Decanter

"As Jerez history goes, Valdespino was in at the beginning. The current company dates back to 1875, but there are written records of winegrowing in 1264. The present owners, the Estévez Group, acquired it in 1999, working with technical director Eduardo Ojeda. Ojeda is a key figure in the new Sherry world, as one of the partners in Equipo Navazos, a small négociant business that has been influential in showing how shippers can identify special butts for bottling. Deliciosa has been a Valdespino brand for almost a century, but its quality has been boosted by the soleras of Sanlúcar bodega La Guita, which Estévez purchased in 2007. Pedro Ballesteros Torres MW: Very well-defined aromas: delicate and clean. Nice manzanilla style that is suave and open, with a lingering finish. Sarah Jane Evans MW: Typical apple and camomile aromas – charmingly floral and delicate. A manzanilla for the Spring Fair: a classically fresh drink with just a hint of saline bite. Delicate and finely balanced; the essence of a young manzanilla. Nick Room: Straight, pleasant, slightly high-toned, fruity nose supports the pale lemon, green-tinged colour. Some toasty notes on the palate and a good incisive fruit delivery. Powerful, overt statement for Sherry. Tight but long."

92 POINTS

Luis Gutierrez - Wine Advocate

It's very interesting to taste a soon-to-be-bottled Manzanilla alongside the same wine that's been in bottle for one year, as I sampled the NV Manzanilla Deliciosa en Rama that was going to be bottled in the spring of 2019 next to the wine that had been bottled the year before. This felt tremendously young, with even a touch of lemon skin, which I sometimes find in very young biological wines. I tasted this just before bottling, and it was just like drinking wine from the bota. The wine will settle in bottle, and the explosive character I saw will not make it to the shelves. This wine is always from the same botas, so the differences are more a matter of how long the wine has been in bottle. In any case, I loved what I tasted. 8,600 bottles.