Delcado Zuleta ‘La Goya’ Manzanilla

A little background: Bodegas Delcado Zuleta is the oldest family-owned sherry producer in the Jerez region, and is located around the town of Sanluca de Barrameda. Manzanilla is the appellation name for fino sherry made from the Sanluca area. The La Goya is a manzanilla pasada, which means the ageing is for eight years in contrast to the usual 4 or 5. The (white) grape variety used in producing La Goya is palamino.

It was a Friday night and we were feeling all wintery so we lobbed a pot of fennel & potato soup on the stove. In true wintery fashion I pulled out a bottle of La Goya to match, and this is what we saw...

A lovely pale golden straw of pristine clarity. As expected, rancio and nutty characters expressed themselves strongly. There was a slight medicinal quality hovering in the background, perhaps more kindly described as a greenish spearmint. I get a hint of my old favourite descriptor – maritime. And then there’s florals (rose petal, camomile and frangipani), and fruits (apple, pear, poached quince), some toast and marmalade, green peppercorns and capers, varnishy oak, and a dollop of overripe orange rind.

Creamy on the palate with some tarty citrus flavours, nutty and raisiny, some lanolin. Prior to the food, the palate fell away at about the 2/3 mark, but when matched with the fennel soup it bounced back, and the back-end came alive with citrus freshness and sweetness.

This particular La Goya was bottled December 2009 so perhaps needed to be topped a bit earlier than we managed.

Vibe
Yeah, it’s a good drink for the price, and a worthy pour with a soup starter at your dinner parties.
Alcohol: 15%
Value: $18 for 375ml bottle. A fair price for an import of this pedigree.
Tasted: June 2011
Closure: Screwcap

Tech-head
Producer: Bodegas Delcado Zuleta – www.delcadozuleta.com – Established in 1744.
Region: Sanluca de Barrameda, Spain.
Site: No specific site info but Sanluca is a cool and humid seaside village.