Alberto Orte 'Poniente' Amontillado VORS, Jerez-Xeres-Sherry DO

Alberto Orte 'Poniente' Amontillado VORS, Jerez-Xeres-Sherry DO

Item Number: 13712

UPC: None

Country: Spain
Region: Andalucia
Sub Region: Cadiz
Appellation/AVA: Jerez-Xeres-Sherry DO
Estate Grown Wine: No
Grape(s): 100% Palomino
Type: Wine - Sherry, Madeira & Port
Bottle Size: 750 ml
Pack: 3
Closure: Cork
Alc by Vol(%): 21
Viticulture: Practicing Organic
Soil Type: Albariza

This Amontillado comes from a system of six criaderas and one solera, with a median age of over 40 years. The wine used to refresh the sixth criadera comes from organically farmed estate vineyards and has a median age of 10 years. Unlike others, this Amontillado has not been fortified prior to its entry into oxidative aging, but instead gradually transitioned into the oxidative aging phase of its life thanks to a gradual depletion of flor-sustaining nutrients creating a slow but steady concentration of the wine.

Serve chilled and pair with grilled artichokes, tuna tataki, croquetas de jamon, seared chanterelle mushrooms, grilled asparagus and kafta (Lebanese beef skewers). A gentle decanting will help the wine express itself more swiftly. The bottle can remain open for one year. If cellaring for a long time in bottle, we recommend decanting before serving.

About Bodegas Poniente: Following the arc of history, winemaker Alberto Orte embraces his family’s rich tradition of solera system wines from Montilla-Moriles to create this unparalleled sherry project. Bodegas Poniente is named after the cool western Atlantic Poniente winds.

Bodegas Poniente sherries are the product of the thoughtful blending of precious, treasured soleras and criaderas from the 18th and 19th centuries with wine from Alberto's estate vineyards. Over the past few years, Alberto Orte has carefully selected and purchased old soleras and criaderas from sherry bodegas. These soleras are then refreshed in the traditional method each year with Alberto's estate production. Some of the resulting wines are over 40 years old and can be officially classified as VORS.

Alberto Orte owns 16 hectares of vines on pure albariza soil. The vineyard sites San Cristóbal, San José, and El Aljibe are located in the Pago Añina, one of three known pago sites in Jerez designated as Jerez Superior. 21 different grape varieties are planted in Viña San Cristóbal; such varieties include Tintilla and Vijiriega and many old clones of Palomino, some of which are over 60 years old. They are planted in the old format, trained in the traditional vara y pulgar, and farmed organically. The wines are produced and aged at the historical estate, a restored house tucked among the vines of El Aljibe.

Reviews

  • The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 93 (6/28/2019)

    There first bottling of the NV Amontillado VORS, marked as "Saca 1/2018," comes from a solera and six criaderas that are over 40 years of average age, and the sixth criadera was topped up with biological wine that was over ten years of age. The color is quite dark and with a green touch around the edge, and the nose seems dominated by oxidative notes of noble woods and some rusty nails with an unusual leafy/balsamic twist. The palate is very salty, dry and saline, with echoes of low tide and seaweed, leaving a dry sensation in the finish.