Equipo Navazos La Bota 90 Manzanilla Pasada Capataz Cabo

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....
Editions 87, 88 and 89 are spirits, so we jump to the extraordinary NV La Bota de Manzanilla Pasada 90 Capataz Cabo, a wine that comes from a solera filled with wine from Sanlúcar, mostly from the Pago Miraflores, that averages ten years under flor and a further five years topped up. This is a blend of different casks, as it was done in editions 10, 30 and 59. These wines are bottled in 750-milliliter bottles, which is different from the single-cask ones, which are put in half-liter bottles. This is nuttier than the regular Manzanilla and even nuttier than the majority of Manzanilla Pasada, keeping the saline and marine character, hints of iodine and low tide, but also something floral and more ethereal. The palate is super expressive and explosive, pungent and nuanced, with very pure and long-lasting flavors. Really impressive. It should be bottled by the time this report comes out. This is truly impressive and should make a monumental wine. 2,500 bottles to be produced.
96-97 points
Luis Gutiérrez - Wine Advocate (June 2019)

Golden colour. Wonderfully intense and honeyed nose but not sweet, the wild grasses of the Fino, a salty intense richness on the nose, sour apricot, a Pandora’s box of aromas that you cannot disentangle sufficiently to describe. The intensity here is quite remarkable but it has not got to the stage where sherry can be almost too intense and too sour. This is smoky, so dry, precise and powerful, almost sweaty on the finish. Utterly saliva-provoking. Stunning length and complexity.
19/20 points
Julia Harding MW - jancisrobinson.com