First time on the Place for this brilliant white from the Jerez region of Spain that uses a hint of the flor ageing technique but is bone dry. One of the most exciting wines on the Place this September, just arrestingly gorgeous, bursts through the palate, powerful twist of grilled salted almonds, with soaring adidity alongside juiced lime and lemon, crushed oyster shell, stretched out and thought-provoking. Tiny production from a 4ha site of 6,000 bottles. The latest wine from an increasingly productive partnership between Ramiro Ibáńez and Willy Perez aimed at reviving the historic Sherry brand Manuel Antonio De la Riva. Get on board. Vino di Pasto, by the way, refers to unfortified wines - definitely something to remember and look out for when getting to grips with what is happening in Xeres today.
98 points, Jane Anson (Aug 2023)
The 2022 Macharnudo San Cayetano Vino de Pasto is an unfortified Palomino from Sherry soils, from the famous Macharnudo vineyard in Jerez. The grapes were sun dried for a few hours, and the wine has less biological influence and more limestone influence despite having aged under a veil of flor yeasts; it comes from a plot of more concentration than the regular Macharnudo. 2022 was already an intense vintage; they wanted to avoid the wine being too heavy, and the wine shows superb. The La Escribana also comes from the Macharnudo vineyard, but this wine comes from a different plot in Macharnudo, an adjacent plot of very old vines (older than the others), looking for finesse and definition in the palate. It is more of a white wine than a flor wine. It was a dry year, and despite everything, the wine finished with a moderate 13.5% alcohol. The regular Macharnudo they had produced since 2016 will now include the name of the plot, El Notario, to distinguish it from these new bottlings. This 2022 has a powdery, chalky mouthfeel, very much the expression of the albariza calcareous soils. It doesn't have high acidity but has very good freshness and balance and a tasty minerality that makes you salivate; it's super tasty. This should bloom with a couple of years in bottle. There are some 6,000 bottles. It was bottled in July 2023. This is not in the Jerez/Sherry appellation, but there's an initiative to create a separate appellation of origin for these unfortified white wines.
96 points, Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate (Aug 2023)
An exciting table wine from the region of Sherry with crunchy fruit and fine phenolics, honeysuckle, crushed stone, and flowers. Medium body. A chalky and salty undercurrent throughout. Highlights some of the exciting new things in Spain. Made from the palomino grape from a single parcel in the vineyard of Macharnudo in the white soils of the region. Drink or hold.
96 points, James Suckling (Sep 2023)
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