Palomino Fino, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain

In 2005, a group of sherry lovers led by a wine writer and a criminology professor discovered some forgotten butts of an exceptionally rare, 20 year old Amontillado in Sanlúcar. They bought a single cask for themselves, bottling it as ‘Navazos n°1’ and since then, this hobby has grown into one of the most exciting projects to come out of Spain, with the team discovering and releasing small, chronologically numbered releases of fortified wines and now, brandy, unfortified Palomino, some PX wines, even a Cava with flor! Made from old, low-yield vines in Pago Miraflores La Baja, No. 99 is single-vineyard & single-vintage, terroir-driven in a way that solera-aged sherries typically are not. ‘Antes de la flor’ means ‘before the flor,’ indicating that this sees no cask or flor aging, simply a year in stainless steel on the lees before bottling, an intentional expression of what the region’s table wines may have looked like before fortification was the norm. Lean and lithe, this has the perfect balance between mouthwatering freshness & savoury warmth, saltwater & the crash of water against the cliffside, smoked hay, dried wildflowers, windhewn stone, rippling acid and a power punch of concentration that belies the brisk, light body of this ‘lil 11.5% cutie. Experiencing the visceral pleasures of this real, one-of-a-kind gem that will hook you onto the joy & wonder of non-fortified Palomino forever & ever.