Gomez Nevado Palido Seco Sierra Morena (75cl)

From beautiful mountain vineyards near Cordoba in southern Spain, that fall outside the classical Denominacion de Origen of Jerez (Sherry) area. This dry Fino style wine is produced in the same way, using the sherry method but without any fortification. Fino is crisp, dry, yeasty, nutty and tangy, it’s also fresh and delicate and should be drunk chilled like a white wine.

A fantastic aperitif, a treat with salted almonds, manzanilla olives, hams and of course tapas. Will keep in the fridge and is great for cooking too! A wonderful, rare artisan wine with amazing intensity of flavour by one of the only Bodegas in the area still making wine the traditional way.

The grapes are fermented with natural yeasts, after which the wine is aged for five years in a traditional ‘solera’ system under a layer of ‘flor’ yeast which protects it from oxidation. Unlike most sherries, the wine is unfortified and unfiltered, and is bottled by hand straight from the cask.

Bodegas Gomez Nevado was possibly the first estate in Spain to be certified organic, way back in 1988.

• 17/20 JancisRobinson.com, ‘Darker than most fino sherries. Intense aroma of hay and dried grasses, and chamomile. The aromas are broader than on a fino sherry, more complex in fact, and the salty character is very intense on the palate. Great stuff and very persistent.‘ Julia Harding MW, November 2016

Gabriel Gomez is a small family producer from the heart of the Sierra Morena mountains in the Andalucian region of southern Spain. They were the first estate in Spain to use organic viticulture, as far back as 1988, and consistently produce sherry-type wines of high quality.

Led by the patriarch Gabriel, the family work 8 hectares of certified organic vineyard. Grass grows in between the spread out, huddled-close-to-the-ground bush vines, with the family’s flock of goats grazing and trimming back the wild flora. The vineyards are made up of 60% Aris –called Airén to the north- and 20% each of Palomino and Pedro Ximenez, and sit at roughly 500 meters elevation on a mix of clay and slate soils. These soils, combined with serious farming, a fairly continental-mediterranean mountain climate, and substantial vine age, lend a rich structure to Gómez Nevado wines, which is contrasted with a tight vibrancy, and a strong savory component, almost bordering on umami - a viscosity and flavour profile not found elsewhere in the land of Sherry or Montilla.  

The Gómez Nevado bodega is situated on a hillside at the edge of the town of Villaviciosa de Córdoba, an hour drive from the city of Córdoba, and constructed in the traditional Jerezano style, with high ceilings and windows that open at the top to increase airflow. Here is a rundown of their unique way of producing their wines: The grapes are manually harvested, destemmed, and crushed; they only use the first press juice, which goes into cement vats where the must will settle. Gabriel makes a pied de cuve (read natural yeasts!) from the first grapes harvested to start fermentation, and the must goes to tanks to finish alcoholic fermentation. The wine will then be transferred to old amphora by hand, where the veil of flor forms. The wines are never fortified, and often have a natural alcohol of around 15%.  Once the flor develops, the wine goes into a solera: roughly 5 years for the Pálido and up to 15 years for the Dorado. All the Sierra Morena wines are bottled straight from the cask by hand without any type of filtration. The results are true classical wines from La Vieja Andalucia. 

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