Equipo Navazos La Bota 92 Palo Cortado Pata de Gallina (500ml)

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....
The NV La Bota de Palo Cortado 92 "Pata de Gallina" comes from the same solera as edition 72 (and 34), with wine that averages 35 years of age. It was sourced from the Almacenista Juan García Jarana and matured in the Fernando de Castilla winery. This feels older and has the reductive aromas of matchstick and old church. It seems like the wine has aged a little faster, perhaps in a more oxidative way. It has character and a touch of earthy rusticity, with great concentration, perhaps not as elegant as some of the other wines I tasted next to it. 2,000 half-liter bottles produced.
94 points
Luis Gutiérrez - Wine Advocate (June 2019)

Mid orangey gold. More apricot and orange here compared with the older Bota NO 79 Cream, almost a touch of vanilla but still the intensity of reduced-down bitter oranges, walnut skins too. On the palate the fruit is more rounded and generous, less severe concentration but still amazing intensity. Packed with sweet/bitter orange and a mouth-filling richness but no lack of freshness. So different from the Bota NO. Seems more youthful, more lively, less demanding, perhaps.
18.5/20 points
Julia Harding MW - jancisrobinson.com