Tried these two TioPepe finos over the weekend:
1. TioPepe Palomino Fino MuySeco (15%; Bttld: 7/19/13; www.GonzalesByass.com) GonzalesByas/Jerez de la Frontera NV: Med.gold color; very saline/earthy/classic fino/dusty slight shoe polish (Shinola)/fresh sawn walnut complex nose; very tart/austere/very dry quite tangt/saline/teeth-chattering/classic fino rather metallic/tangy flavor; med.long austere/dry/tangy/metallic quite saline/teeth-chattering acid slight oxidative/walnutty finish; a pretty classic austere fino; needs food. $21.00 (KK)
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2. TioPepe Fino en Rama (15%; Unfltrd/Unclarified; 2'nd bttlg; 10752 btls; Bttld: 4/8/13) NV: Pale gold slightly cloudy color; very fresh/grapey/fruity/spicy/fresh apple/bit yeasty slightly saline/earthy much more fragrant nose; bit softer slightly saline very fresh apple/fresh pear/grapey/fruity/spicy bit austere/metallic rather perfumed fresh/attractive atypical fino flavor; very long very fresh/fruity/fresh cut apple/pear light tangy/saline/metallic finish; much more fruit & perfume & rounder on the palate; more like a young skin-contact white and atypical of any finos I've had. $23.00 (CB)
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And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Awwright...I'll admit I'm not much of a fan of fino Sherry. At least just to taste them. I've found them OK (but just that) when I've had them w/ spicy tapas. But just to taste them, they are unpleasantly dry/austere/saline on the palate to my taste.
So...about a yr ago, DarrellCorti offered up a fino em Rama sherry. A fino that is not bttld w/ the usual fining and tight filteration...to insure biological stability in the btl. Details can be found in this article:
enRamaFinoSherry
I was flabbergasted (Kansas colloquialism for jaw-dropping surprise) by how good this wine was. It was actually a fino that I liked. This is (supposedly) how fino sherry tastes directly from the cask in Jerez. According to Darrell, this is a wine that loses its freshness w/ btl age and you want to buy only what you need over the next few months (I bought this about a yr ago). So...thank you Darrell for this eye-opener.
These en Rama Sherries are apparently the darlings of the young/hip Somms across this GreatNation. And, as one of the hippest of the hip on this wine board, I suggest you give one a try if you come across one.
Tom