I tasted this wine and the clouds parted
I was sharing a meal with Diego Talavera Gaborieu from Gonzalez Byass earlier this year at Canoe and we finished with a sip of something really special —Tio Pepe En Rama. A fino Sherry. One that makes you believe in God. And it’s being released in Ontario for the first time Aug. 31.
It was served entirely without pomp and circumstance. So much so that I was like, “Wait, what is this?”
“It’s a limited edition bottling of unfiltered Tio Pepe. It’s our way of inviting people to taste Tio Pepe in barrel,” said Talavera Gaborieu, the international sales director of Gonzalez Byass, which makes Tio Pepe — the world’s bestselling fino Sherry.
Limited edition indeed. Tio Pepe En Rama is on tight allocation. It has only been shared with friends of Gonzalez Byass since it was first made in 2010. Those friends include Russell Woodman, the head of Woodman Wines & Spirits, a wine agent here in Ontario.
Woodman receives a small allotment of Tio Pepe En Rama each year. But those bottles have only been available to Woodman’s private wine clients— and sold out quickly. When the LCBO releases 1,260 bottles of Tio Pepe En Rama on Aug. 31, it will sell out fast.
To taste Tio Pepe before it’s filtered has always been the privilege of those tasting it from barrel with the winemaker. Filtering removes stray yeast and other small particles to make it shelf stable, but takes away precious flavour. The idea to make Tio Pepe En Rama came about in 2009. Antonio Flores, the winemaker, was tasting Tio Pepe from cask with the wine buyer for The Wine Society in the U.K., Toby Morrhall.
The men were marvelling at the wine’s complexity. Morrhall said, if you bottle some of this wine unfiltered, I’ll buy it from you.
Flores was concerned the wine might not remain stable bottled this way, but he proceeded. He bottled 16,000 bottles in 2010 and called it Tio Pepe En Rama. Morrhall sold the full lot in the U.K. within 48 hours. And the exercise was a huge success. The wine held up very well in bottle.
“It lost freshness but gained body, mouth feel and complexity,” Flores said. “What’s in the bottle is the strength of the soil; the silence of the winery; the sun, the salt, the rain and the wind — it’s our wild Tio Pepe.”
Like all fino Sherry, Tio Pepe En Rama should be consumed young and fresh once it’s bottled. Flores says it will keep fresh up to one year if properly cellared. The bottling date is on the back label.
Now, Gonzalez Byass produces 18,000 bottles of Tio Pepe En Rama per year — each with a different label design. The 2019 vintage — the 10th anniversary edition — arrives in Ontario shortly. Fino fans should snap it up.
Carolyn Evans Hammond is a Toronto-based wine writer and a freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Reach her via email: carolyn@carolynevanshammond.com
> WHAT IS FINO SHERRY
Fino is a dry wine fortified to 15 per cent alcohol that spends time in barrel under a film of natural yeast called “flor.” The flor imparts a breadlike character along with the wine’s hallmark tangy, nutty, briny nuances. Fino Sherry is pale, delicate, and not at all fruity. Fino is made in the Jerez, Spain.
TASTING NOTE
2019 Tio Pepe En Rama DO, Jerez, Spain (Vintages 10648 $22.95) In the glass, this wine is hazy rather than clear with a pale straw colour. The nose is explosive with robust aromas of lemon oil, crushed nuts and fresh bread dough. The entry is bone dry, slipping over the palate with a briny tang that tastes lifted, complex and rich in umami — yet delicate, too. Suggestions of sea salt, dry-roasted almonds, yeast, iodine and more play on the palate along with a certain buttery richness. Long. Score: 94
HOW TO SERVE FINO SHERRY
Serve it chilled in small glasses Serve it on its own or with tapas. Thinly sliced Iberico ham or Marcona almonds are classic pairings Once open, keep the bottle in the fridge and drink it within four weeks