Bodegas San Francisco Javier ‘Vina Corrales’ Pago Balbaina Fino Sherry

2 reviews for Bodegas San Francisco Javier ‘Vina Corrales’ Pago Balbaina Fino Sherry

1. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   WA – March 23, 2023

   The NV Fino Viña Corrales Pago Balbaína was bottled in 2021, clearly shown on the label and on the cork. It has a round, lush and buttery texture, a full-bodied palate and very pungent flavors. What surprised me from this bottling is the freshness and elegance that makes the wine feel lighter and easier to drink. This feels one step above the first bottling I tasted last year. It has incredible aromatics that are super complex, with notes of diesel, potpourri, wet chalk, esparto grass and yeasts. This is simply superb and even difficult because it’s sooooo easy to drink. In 2020, they did two bottlings, or sacas, in the spring and autumn, which is quite usual because the idea is to do only one bottling per year. In 2021, they bottled a little bit later, trying to soften the character of the “beticus” yeasts. They filled some 7,500 bottles in May 2021. This was bottled completely “en rama,” unfiltered and unfined.

2. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   DEC – March 23, 2023

   In some senses this fino Sherry is the answer to ‘what would white Pingus taste like’, since Sisseck’s hunt for a limestone vineyard to make a great Spanish white wine ultimately took him to Jerez. And there’s something very white Burgundy about the refined texture here: it’s been polished and buffed to a high sheen. The classic fino nutty-yeasty savouriness is there, too, but it whispers rather than shouts. Great tapering length. Such elegance.