Palo Cortado By The Sea
Gutiérrez Colosía
Palo Cortado Solera Familiar 500ml
I've been waiting for Gutiérrez Colosía's Palo Cortado Solera Familiar to become available for some time. I'm really happy that after years it's available in the states.
I visited Gutiérrez Colosía in 2011 and thought their Palo Cortado Solera Familiar was fantastic even among the strong showing of all of their wines.
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When they asked me what bottle that I wanted to leave with I, of course, exited with a bottle of the Palo Cortado. I'm not alone with my love of this bottling. It seems like everyone who tastes it gets obsessed with it.
Without a doubt, this is a special bottle of Palo Cortado and very likely the best wine to come out of Gutiérrez Colosía. It's a very old and complex Palo Cortado - the average age is over fifty years.They release somewhere around four hundred 500ml bottles per year.
The real story about what makes Gutiérrez Colosía special, though, is location. Gutiérrez Colosía is the last surviving bodega on the banks of the Guadalete River. It's a sweet spot close to an especially cool and humid location, very close to where the Guadalete empties out to the Bay of Cádiz. As quoted in Peter Liem's and Jesús Barquín's Sherry, Manzanilla & Montilla, Juan Carlos Gutiérrez says, "In Sanlúcar they talk about being close to the sea, but nobody is closer to the sea than we are."
The location gives the wines a saline delicacy that I love. Even with the intensity that age and oxidative aging brings, Gutiérrez Colosía's Palo Cortado Solera Familiar has these qualities in spades. It's a really beautiful thing.
The Palo Cortado Solera Familiar has the crushing, gripping intensity of old Palo Cortado while maintaining fineness, delicacy, incredible precision and cut and insane length. The combination of fineness and power is what makes it stand out even among the region's best.
Gutiérrez Colosía's Palo Cortado Solera Familiar makes for fascinating, lovely drinking. It's the one old Palo Cortado that I want to drink with the most regularity. The elegance and detail keep me going back to it.
To order, reply to offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Joe Salamone
Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits
Gutiérrez Colosía
Palo Cortado Solera Familiar 500ml
Special Email 500ml Price: $112.95
Special Email 3-Pack Price: $326.95 ($108.95/btl)