La Bota: Stunning and Limited
Amontillado # 37
Manzanilla Pasada "Bota No" #39
Manzanilla Pasada "Bota Punta" #40
The three recent releases from La Bota from Bodegas La Guita may be the most exciting cluster of wines from La Bota to date. They are also some of the most limited.
As such, we're going to keep this nice and short.
This is only going out to a small group of Sherry fanatics. Regardless, I expect that we'll have to make allocations.
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In part, it's simply the limited nature of these releases. Production was tiny: only 250 cases of #37 were released and around 83 cases of 500ml were made of #39 and #40.
The foundation of all three releases begins at La Guita in Sanlúcar. I encourage you to read up on La Bota here, but briefly I should mention that all three of these sherries show how sharp the palates of the La Bota team are and how exacting their barrel by barrel selection process is. If any further proof were needed that Sherry should be included among the world's great wines, these could serve a "Exhibit A."
The briny, incisive character of the Amontillado #37 pays tribute to these origins. These characteristics are joined by a tremendous depth of complexity and energy. I was really blown away by this when I tasted it in October.
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The Manzanilla Pasada Bota "No" #39 is sourced from an incredibly finessed single bota. When I visited La Guita in 2011, Eduardo Ojeda, who's one-half of La Bota with Jesús BarquÃn, poured a sample from this barrel introducing it as "Peter's barrel." Apparently, it was the barrel that left the biggest impression on Sherry Guru, Peter Liem. The barrel was bottled on its own because both Ojeda and BarquÃn singled it out as exemplary after independently blind tasting samples of every barrel in the solera. It's gorgeously aromatic, fine and elegant.
Finally, there's Manzanilla Pasada "Bota Punta" #40 - from a legendary and special barrel from what's one of the best and most singular soleras in all of Sherry country. For those of you who remember #20, you have a firm grasp on how profound this barrel is. When it comes to refreshing this barrel, wine is taken from the solera instead of the younger wine from 1st criadera, which is the normal procedure. This builds an insane amount of concentration and complexity for this wine.
That's it - these wines really speak for themselves. Please keep in mind that it's the weekend and that you may not hear back until Monday.
To order, please email us at offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Joe Salamone
Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits
Equipo Navazos