The art of preceding a meal with fortified wine is need of revival.

To be fair, I don’t often drink fino sherry, but every time I do, I feel I ought to indulge more often. This wine was served in the context of a tasting and placed against an Australian fino from Seppeltsfield. Although the local wine was flavoursome and refreshing, this is on quite another level.

Overtly complex, this is a wine of outstanding finesse in the context of a wine style that can be fairly pungent. Classic aromas of nuts and sea spray combine with notes that are so far from table wine they seem to reside in alien terrain — this is the pleasure of fino styles and for those with a taste for these wines (like me) there’s simply no substitute.

In the mouth, tremendous verve and impact. It’s not a heavy wine and moves through the palate with good articulation, fanning its flavours across the tongue with precision. There are a great many things going on in terms of flavour profile, a mix of aldehydic and fresh points that recalls avant garde fragrance as much as wine. As good an aperitif as this would make, it also screams for food that might match its piquancy.

Excellent wine.

Equipo Navazos
Price: $A67
Closure: Cork
Source: Sample