Equipo Navazos La Bota 70 Manzanilla Pasada Magnum (1500ml)

Equipo Navazos is perhaps the most significant thing to have happened in the world of Sherry for a very long time. It has some of the most influential people in the fine wine world raving about the quality of these wines, and they are talking about the quality first and the fact that they are Sherries second. These are wines to make Sherry sexy again. They are also as rare as hens’ teeth and are being sought after with the same urgency that wealthy Burgundy collectors seek out the wines of DRC or the greatest Montrachet. This makes sense: these wines are every bit as profound, deep, long and complex as any bottle of DRC (and that is no insult to DRC!)

The Navazos Sherries are drawn from several bodegas, and represent a variety of styles: Manzanilla, Fino, Palo Cortado, Oloroso, Pedro Ximénez, Cream and even a brandy. The wines are bottled in limited series, in successive numbered editions, dated and named “La Bota de….” (the cask of…). The date of each saca, or racking, has been precisely stated on the label so that it is possible to compare editions of the same solera. This also enables precise tracking of the evolution of the wines, as these wines are expected to evolve in the bottle (it’s Sherry, but not as we know it). These are once off bottlings and once the bottles for each La Bota… release are spoken for, there are no more.

Other Reviews....
I also previewed the first ever Manzanilla Pasada from Navazos to be released exclusively in magnum (there have been a bunch of magnums from the Navazos-Niepoort wines, though), the NV La Bota de Manzanilla Pasada 70 Mágnum. This is a little younger than the other bottlings of Manzanilla Pasada, and also a little lighter. Eduardo Ojeda started putting some wines away in the Calle Misericordia winery, some 41 casks that were turned into criaderas of the manzanilla pasada; and from those casks, he selected 2,000 liters that put into two 1,000-liter barrels that are thought to be over 100 years of age. The wine can be around ten-years-old. They also sourced a younger wine to make the magnums more affordable. It has the more oxidative character than the older wines, as if the begging of the oxidative phase is somehow disturbing after the long biological aging. The wine shows much better in the palate where you find a solid wine. This is a younger brother (or sister) of the older manzanillas pasadas, which should develop nicely once it is bottled - and especially in magnum. They expect to fill 1,300 magnums from two 1,000-liter barrels. This is the price for a magnum. Drink 2016 - 2024.
93-96 points
Luis Gutiérrez - Wine Advocate (Apr 2016)