Tio Pepe Sherry - Half Bottle 375ml

Antonio Flores Pedregosa is truly the nabob, the poo-bah, even the muckety-muck of Tio Pepe, one of the most esteemed wine blenders in the whole of Jerez. His father preceded him at the helm of the operation, and he grew up with Tio Pepe, he lived and breathed Tio Pepe, he was born and even conceived at the Tio Pepe winery. From an early age, then, he wanted nothing more than to be a journalist. Oh. Well, journalism's loss is our gain and instead of articles we have news of this delightful, almond-tinged, yeasty and piquant dry sherry.

Manuel Garcia Gonzalez founded Gonzalez Byass in Jerez in 1835, at the age of just 23. In 1844 he exported to London his first barrels of Tio Pepe, which he had named in honour of his uncle. By 1855 the UK market had expanded to the point where Gonzalez had no option but to make his UK distributor, Robert Blake Byass, a partner in the company. Since then, the company has been dedicated to spreading the Sherry gospel, both with its more commercial bottlings and with its fine and rare old wines that it has aged meticulously in its ancient cellars for 30 years and more.

Gonzalez Byass owns over 800 hectares of vineyards in Jerez Superior. The albariza soil is high in chalk, and the moisture it maintains is essential to combating the heat of the region's long, dry summers. 95% of the vineyards are given to the Palomino grape, the remaining 5% to Pedro Ximinez.

Antonio Flores has been the head of the winemaking and blending team since 1980, holding the reins of all of the wines in the Jerez cellars and knowing the condition of the wines in every one of the thousands of barrels in the bodega. His father did the job before him, and Antonio was both born and conceived in a room above the original Tio Pepe cellar.

The Palomino grapes receive a gentle pneumatic pressing, without crushing the stems, seeds or skins, producing a light must called 'yema.' This must is fermented in stainless steel tanks, fortified to 15.5% and placed into the Tio Pepe Solera system where it spends over four years in American oak. In the meantime the wine is ageing under a layer of yeast called flor, which reduces oxidation and maintains the wine's crisp dryness and Palomino characteristics.

A clean and fragrant wine, with nutty aromas and a piquancy derived from flor ageing. A very dry but full-bodied palate leads to a long finish flush with yeast and nuts.