Judgement of London: English Sparkling versus Champagne 
Other Asti styles surprise 
Brachetto d’Acqui: red, sweet, sparkling, different 
Barbera d’Asti and Nizza: finest Barbera? 
Moscato d’Asti, Asti Dolce and Asti Secco 
Asti: Barbera, Moscato and friends Sherry
566. Equipo Navazos, La Bota de Palo Cortado 21, NV (2011)
My favourite of the trio – a complex Palo Cortado that more than held its own alongside a Lustau Almacenista dry Palo Cortado (less …
565. Equipo Navazos, La Bota de Fino Macharnudo Alto 18, NV (2011)
Again, a richer, deeper style of Fino than most commercial brands. Mid-gold. Briny hints on the nose, but dominated by mature beeswax, dried apple, …
564. Equipo Navazos, La Bota de Manzanilla 22, NV (2011)
Having read many good things about the Sherry selections of Equipo Navazos, I figured I’d test out a spread – Manzanilla, Fino and Palo …
Berry Bros press tasting: how the other half live
The Berry Bros & Rudd Autumn / Winter press tasting, in stark contrast to the Co-op supermarket’s Autumn press tasting exactly a week before, showed …
540. Gonzales Byass, Palo Cortado Apostoles VORS, NV (2010)
Having been really impressed by this in Tenuta Cuatro tapas bar, I was really happy to be given a bottle by SJ as a …
537. Hidalgo La Gitana, Palo Cortado Viejo Hidalgo VORS, NV
Saw this on bin-end in Waitrose and thought ‘why not’? It took a while to open, but having done so, a great reward. Stylistically, …
438. Bodegas Tradicion for Fortnum & Mason, Amontillado 30 Years Old VORS, NV (2008)
A couple of half bottles of this bought for Fortified Wine tasting practice (which obviously worked, as I managed a distinction!). An outstanding example …
417. Emilio Lustau for Berry Bros, Oloroso Pata de Gallina 1/38 Juan Garcia Jarana Solera, NV
And this was my second Almacenista sherry – again sourced by Lustau. A classic dry oloroso sherry, with lovely sweet flavour, but the refreshing …
416. Emilio Lustau for Berry Bros, Manzanilla Pasada de Sanlúcar 1/80 Manuel Cuevas Jurado Solera, NV
Dawn picked this up as part of getting together a revision-list of wines for our WSET fortified exam. We got through 30 wines in …
Big Fortified Tasting: go hard or go home
On 9th May 2018, I went to my first edition of the fabled trade tasting, the Big Fortified Tasting. The clue is in the …