Saca de February 2022. This prodigious Manzanilla had never been bottled until Equipo Navazos selected it in 2008 for its 10th La Bota release. This was followed two years later by No. 20 Bota Punta. No. 110 is just the fifth saca of what is surely one of the most complex and flat-out delicious dry sherries that exist in the world today (in bottle at least). Over the last decade, under the direction of Navazos’ Eduardo Ojeda, this solera of just 15 casks has been carefully managed by Capataz Cabo, one of the region’s great cellarmasters and whose work is now commemorated on the label.
This bottling has an average age of around 14 years and is a wine of singular and intense biological character (powerful steely notes of salinity on the palate). There are two keys to unlocking the style and quality here. Firstly, the lion’s share of the Palomino has come from Sanlúcar’s de-facto Grand Cru pago Miraflores. Then, like the Bota 59, the butts were filled through the maturation process—almost up to a tocadedos. Therefore, this Manzanilla offers some elegant and very subtle oxidative complexity that is not at all typical. This also increases the alcohol slightly to about 16.5%.
The result is an incredibly fine, complex and powerful wine of balanced freshness, intense salinity and gentle oxidative notes. Truly unique and stunningly versatile on the dinner table, it matches a wide variety of foods, from rich fish dishes and charcuterie to scrambled eggs with porcini or runny sheep’s cheese. Best served around 12ºC in proper wine glasses.