Navazos La Bota de Manzanilla Pasada "Bota Punta" No 60 500ml

The so-called NV La Bota de Manzanilla Pasada 60 Bota Punta is sourced from a special cask "Bota Punta" that was already bottled as numbers 20, 40 and 50. This particular cask from the Manzanilla Pasada 'solera' from the Calle Misericordia winery from La Guita was isolated, because it has a very marked biological character - a very old Manzanilla that keeps more 'flor' than the other butts in the 'solera' and shows less oxidative. The other particularity is that this cask is always refilled with wine from the other 14 casks from the 'solera', and therefore keeps an average age a couple of years older, around 17 years, while keeping a younger/fresher profile. They all have the iodine and saline character, the seaweed, low tide and the vertical palate. This is the most special -and scarce and expensive - of all the manzanillas pasadas from Navazos. Really world class. This is the one with depth and sharpness beyond belief, a step up in complexity, elegance and balance. It's funny how the wine seems to overcome oxidation and starts getting sharper and sharper again. This is truly outstanding. LUIS GUTIERREZ robertparker.com

A 'bota punta' is the final, ground-level cask at one end of a solera: different by nature (since it is sampled more often, and may be exposed to different environmental conditions to the rest of the solera) and different by tutelage (often refreshed by the cellarmaster or capataz from the solera itself, rather than from younger criaderas). Absolutely grand, not so much in terms of its aromas, which are harmonious, arresting and tangy, but in terms of its concentrated, challenging and highly detailed flavours: fresh, mouthwatering and tongue-coating, a kind of Japanese banquet reduced to a single glass of wine, with a cascade of tuna flake, seaweed, ginger and green tea allusions. ANDREW JEFFORD decanter.com