El Pinto Palomino

Cadiz, Spain

100% Palomino

El Pinto is a collaboration between Les Caves de Pyrene and Hacienda La Parrilla. The idea behind this project is to create excellent value wines from sustainably grown grapes, as naturally as possible; wines that will identify with the characteristics of the area.

The vineyards are part of a 500-ha estate in the San Jose del Valle, inland, 35 km south-east of Jerez, in beautiful countryside close to the Sierra de Cadiz. The estate is made up of old olive trees, vineyards (17ha), pasture (where Iberico pigs roam free) and other crops.

Owned by the Rebuelta González brothers, who built the winery in an old olive mill, within their charming ranch house which dates to 1881. The vineyard is situated on a fairly steep slope on pure white albariza soils, and is farmed organically (not certified). The white is, of course, from the Palomino grape, that provides the base of most of the dry sherries in the Jerez region.

Grapes are manually harvested and whole-bunch pressed into stainless steel tanks, where they undergo a fermentation at cool temperatures with indigenous yeasts. The wine also undergoes a natural malolactic conversion. After a brief period on the lees, El Pinto Palomino is bottled without filtration or fining, and a small amount of added so2. The wine is bright golden yellow, aromatically suggestive of dried apples, yellow cherries and a touch of exotic fruit with a chalky minerality and a salty finish.